


For Angels To Fly

by MindlessIdeologist



Series: Breathing in Snowflakes [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angelstuck, Demonstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:45:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1255126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindlessIdeologist/pseuds/MindlessIdeologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave Strider is a Peacekeeper of Skaia, with a long-guarded secret; in an underground room beneath his home, he hides a group of Alternian Demons, outcasted from their own home.</p><p>John Egbert is the first Fledgling that Dave has caught since his Solstice duty student fell four years ago, and when John, his sister, Jade Harley, and his friend, Rose Lalonde, fledge on the Summer Solstice, it will be Dave's duty once again.<br/>But Dave is still scarred from the fall of his last student, so he elects to take Karkat, one of his demon refugees and his best friend, along with him.<br/>The risk that Dave takes is easily brushed aside by the newly fledged John- but will he reveal Dave's forbidden secret and condemn both Dave and the refugees, or will he sink himself into an enigma bigger than Skaia itself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fledglings

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a smush up between two ideas I've had.  
> It'll start a bit slow since I have to cram information vital for the future, but once it gets going we should be fine.

"Watch me!" were the last words out of John Egbert's mouth before he flung himself sideways into the void of sky below.  
"John!"  
"No!"  
Jade Harley and Rose Lalonde called after the raven-haired Fledgling. "We can't fly!" Jade screeched for her brother, her own bright green wings fluttering behind her fruitlessly.  
Rose leaned toward the edge of the cloud platform, but before she could stare after the blue wings of her friend, red stretched across the sky ahead of her, and both she and Jade reeled.  
The redwing stranger landed on his knees in front of the two girls, placed John's limp but breathing form gently onto the soft cloud in front of the two girls. "Keep a leash on him." the redwing's tone was concerned over irritated, and without another word, he threw himself backwards and plummeted toward the city below, wheeling on his wide wings to slow his descent.  
Rose observed the white-blond hair of the redwing reflect the sunlight and he flew, whilst Jade shook her brother by the shoulders, "John!"  
John stirred, "'m not dead?" he muttered. His answer came from Rose,  
"Indeed not, it appears you have a guardian angel."

 

"The hell Dave?" crowed Meenah, a dark-haired girl with fuchsia wings and long, trailing braids. "Why did you just shoot off like that?"  
"Peacekeeper." Dave, the redwing, reminded with a shrug.  
"Bullshit," growled Karkat Vantas from the corner where he sat with Terezi Pyrope laid in his lap asleep, " you've let them fall before."  
"Yeah, why save the bluewing?" Meenah stood over Dave intimidatingly, ignoring Karkat mouthing 'Sorry' for his harsh comment.  
"His name is John." Dave said as though it solved everything, flumping calmly to the cloud floor.  
"Why Do You Know That?" Kanaya's tone was merely curious, as opposed to the condescending or angry airs from the others.  
"Peacekeeper." Dave stressed.  
The Alternians were quite right to be angry, communication between Alternian Demons and Skaiabound Angels was forbidden for all but the Peacekeepers. Even then, the meetings could not take place for leisure purposes- they had to be on neutral ground, the Medium, and for political purposes only.  
Dave's friends were hiding out in an underground room in the heart of a bustling metropolis of an angelic civilisation.

The Alternians, for Dave refused to think of them as Demons, had been outcasted from their own hives for defending a mutantblood. The outcasts included all classes, from peasantry to royalty, but all would have died if it wasn't for the Governess Dolorosa and the Rebel Signless rescuing the half-dead youngling from the outskirts of Alternia, meeting the fledgling Dave, as they fled across the Medium, by chance and only chance.  
Protected by the Disciple, the Dolorosa and the Signless deposited the youngling onto Dave with a pleading farewell, begging Dave to protect them.

The next Lunar Cycle, Dave was initiated as a Peacekeeper. The fledged Angel raised all twelve Alternians in secret, underground, even dating Terezi, the tealblood, until Karkat revealed his feelings and Dave stepped back.  
After that, Dave received a steady trickle of outcasts and runaways bouncing to and fro from Dave to other camps across Skaia. Meenah was the only permanent resident aside from the original refugees.

"Where's Sollux?" Dave mumbled into the cloud floor. The Alternian in question waved a hand from his dark corner of the room, "Here. Buthy. Thut up."  
Dave snickered at Sollux's lisp. He always did, because he knew it annoyed the yellowblood, but he didn't mean it and Sollux knew that too.  
Karkat held an inviting arm out to Dave, who gladly accepted the invite and shuffled over to lean into Karkat and slip gratefully to the grey area between wake and sleep.

"You know we don't Fledge 'til next week!" Jade fumed at John as soon as he recovered. John gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug,  
"Whoops."  
"I'll show you 'Whoops' mister!"  
Rose sighed gently as Jade began beating her brother senseless.

"They Fledge next week." Dave's sleep-laden words hung heavily in the air between himself and Karkat.  
"Who?"  
"John and his friends."  
There was a short pause, Karkat knew there was only one reason Dave would tell him this.  
"You're on duty?" his normally harsh tone was soft, almost wary.  
"Yeah." Even sleepy, Dave matched Karkat's tone.  
There was another pause, longer this time, broken eventually by Dave.  
"Come with me? To the ceremony I mean."  
"You're going? And why?" Karkat asked, shocked.  
"Yeah I'm going, I... I need you with me Karkat."  
"Because?"  
"Because you're my best friend, you know why."

"Jade!" John groaned as his sister began to fiddle with and straighten his ceremonial hood. As an Heir of Breath, John's blue outfit complimented him, with a trailing hood just a shade lighter than his eyes.  
Jade, on the other hand, as a Witch of Space, was dressed in black and dark grey. She had taken a step from the traditional Witch design and adapted it; her outfit was completed with the sewn addition of two fluffy white dog ears, to take after her old Guardian, Becquerel.  
"Jade," Rose's voice reached the twins as Jade finished meddling with the creases in John's hood, "You left your hood."  
Rose entered the room with the dark velvet of Jade's hood (complete with dog ears) draped over her arm.  
"Whoa, Rose, you look amazing!" John was the first to voice the thought, and Jade nodded mutely. Rose's orange outfit perfectly complimented her... well, everything.  
Rose had been dubious of the colour scheme at first, especially the red-orange of her hood as she suspected a colour clash with violet eyes. However, now that she was wearing the outfit as opposed to looking at it, neither John nor Jade could say she looked anything short of stunning.  
"Thank you." Rose smiled as she handed Jade her hood. She gave her a light hug, then repeated the action for John. As jade made the finishing adjustments to her hood, Rose held out her hands, one to each of the twins. "Are you ready?"  
"Yes." both siblings took hold of Rose's hands, and together, they left, knowing that they may not come back.

 

"And do you Fledglings accept that, to Fledge, burdens you with the full shackles of the law, and thereby agree to abide and obey higher orders?" The head of the ceremony stood ahead of the Fledglings, reciting the age-old contract. In turn, John, Rose and Jade agreed, sinking to one knee with heads bowed. Rose gently nudged John, "Over there, the redwing that caught you." she jerked her head in the direction of sunlight-coloured hair and dark shades. John glanced up then dropped his head once more,  
"Peacekeeper. But who is that next to him?" John was referring to the short angel with dark hair and grey wings. Rose made a sound of unknowing and both she and John turned their attention back to the ceremony as gentle fingers brushed their wings. The voice of the ceremonial head broke into them,  
"You are Fledged. Rise Up."

The peacekeeper was to take over next.  
As the ceremonial head flew away, John's saviour strode toward the newly Fledged angels, his short companion hanging a few metres behind him whilst the handful of other spectators filtered away.  
"I'm Dave," the redwing peacekeeper began, "I'll be teaching you how to use those fine wings of yours. The main aim here isn't to fly; the main aim is not to fall. Got it?"  
Rose and Jade nodded, John was oblivious, staring at Dave's companion with a mixture of fear and confusion, emphasis on the latter.  
"That's just my roommate, Karkat." Dave made a brief attempt to draw John's attention, and it worked.

The next few hours were dedicated to teaching the newly Fledged angels how to fly, whilst Karkat observed from the sidelines. Once, John lost control of his flight pattern and occidentally sped into a nose dive. Before Dave could react, Karkat was up and beside John, forcing him out of the dive and into a much gentler landing. Dave shot a grateful expression at his friend that went unseen by his students.

 

"Go ahead," John encouraged the girls to carry on home without him, "I'll catch up."  
Jade and Rose headed off without much pause, leaving John to chase after Dave and Karkat.  
Shaky on his newly Fledged wings, John took to the air. Dave and Karkat, although walking, had a fair head start on the blue-eyed angel.  
Using everything Dave had taught him, John sped after his mentor, somehow staying airborne until he hit the ground running, "Dave!"  
"John, the fuck? Lesson's over, go home."  
"Dave," John ignored his elder's command, "Why do you have a Demon with you?"

A long stretch of startled silence was followed with, "What the FUCK are you talking about fuckass?" from Karkat.  
Dave held a hand out against his friend's chest. "Karkat's no demon," Dave kept his voice level, "See? Feathers, no scales." Dave tugged gently at Karkat's wing, praying his disguise would hold.  
"Mhm, so, why did that wing just flicker?" Knowing his argument was won, John leant back into a condescending stance, which kind of lost its effect seeing as John was a good five inches shorter than Dave. Karkat and Dave shared a knowing look, and Dave turned to John.  
"Fine, not here. Come on." Dave lifted into the air, Karkat following his lead a moment later. John took the hint and copied them, and all three sped through the air toward Dave's home in the city.

As soon as Dave closed the door to his home, he let his disguise for Karkat fragment, revealing the signature grey skin, orange horns and scaled wings of an Alternian Demon.  
John stared for a minute, taking in the reality of what he was seeing.  
"You're harbouring an Alternian outcast."  
"Yup. What would you like to drink."  
"An illegal Alternian outcast."  
"Yes, drink?" Dave busied his shaking hands pouring water into cups.  
"Dave!" John forced himself between Dave and the cups, staring pointedly into the Peacekeeper's cloaked eyes. Despite their height difference, there was barely an inch between their faces. John could feel Dave's panicked breath,  
"Dave," he started again, softening his expression and tone, "If they catch you, you'll all be Felled."  
Dave crumbled, falling to his knees in front of John, who immediately knelt to comfort him.  
"Hey, relax. Alright, talk to me. How long have you been hiding Karkat?"  
"Not just Karkat," Dave choked, "Five years."  
"Not just Kar- there's more?" Dave nodded. In for a penny, in for a pound. He stood and led the way to the basement- and the other outcasts.

Karkat was already there by the time Dave dropped through the hidden hatch. John followed his lead, stumbling slightly, and the Alternians knew something was wrong. Feferi, the ex-heiress to the Alternian throne, stood protectively in front of her friends. Meenah peered over her shoulder, and the unlucky visitor, Aranea, stood to look over Meenah's. The others clumped together behind them.  
John stared in wonder at the demons. Never in his life had he seen or met an Alternian, yet before him were fourteen of them, including one that had probably saved his life.  
"If we get caught, they'll all be killed." Dave's choked voice broke on the last word.  
"Then we're going to make sure you're not caught." John countered firmly. Dave's head shot up.  
"You're not turning us in?"  
"Hell no!" John seemed offended at the idea, "I never had any intention of doing that." he shook his head, "No, first of all, they do a sweep of the city every... What, five years?"  
Dave nodded, "Due in two days."  
"How the hell were you planning on hiding from a fucking sweep?"  
"Cloaking charm." Of course, Dave had known the charm wouldn't work. Not only was he not strong enough, all magic was disabled in the shock wave from the sweep.  
"You're a Peacekeeper, you tell me, do they sweep the urban and suburban neighbourhoods?"  
"No, never." Dave could see the spark of an idea behind John's eyes.  
"I'll be back tonight. Wait up." with that, John shot out of the hatch, covering it. The Alternians waited until they heard Dave's door close, and then they rounded on him, leaving Dave and Karkat to answer the barrage of questions shot at them.

"Jade! Rose!" John dove into his house, having flown with ease from the city, "Jade!" he called for his sister again. He was rewarded with the appearance of both girls, Jade in her favourite blue dress, Rose in her usual shirt and skirt.  
"Change," John commanded, "black everything, wear pants. We're going on a night mission."  
"I thought you grew out of those games years ago," Jade commented, but headed to her room regardless.  
"It's not a game!" John insisted, "I'll explain when you're changed!"

Both girls changed quickly, much to John's pleasure.  
After he'd swore them to secrecy with the promise that this was very illegal, he expected one or both of them to get up and leave. Both Rose and Jade stayed in place, and when John asked, they told him that, as his friends, they were obligated to help him with every stupid thing he did.  
They watched the sun sink and night begin, and all three slipped out into the night air. Rose pulled up the hood of John's black hoodie to hide her bright hair.  
"Let's go." John took to the air with ease. Rose and Jade shared a look of incredulity, then stared back at John.  
"We can't really fly yet." Jade reminded her brother, eliciting a half-smirk, half-grin from John.  
"Sure you can, you just... don't think about it." when this received only dubious expressions from the two girls, John sighed and held out his hands. "Fine, we'll do this the kid way. Hold on to me and I'll catch you if you fall."  
Partially reassured, both girls took hold of John's hands. They, too, took to the air, and John led the wobbly duo down to Dave's home in the city.

 

"Dave!" John called through the door, as loud as he dared. The door cracked open and Dave's veiled eye peeked out at him. Upon seeing Rose and Jade, it took on a distinctly angry expression, and Dave flung the door open. He grabbed John and tugged him inside, then allowed Rose and Jade to enter the small room before closing and locking the door.

The peacekeeper stayed silent, but his shoulders were raised and he was tense with a combination of worry and anger. John noticed this, "Dave, this is part of my plan."  
"Plan? Plan to get us fucking caught?" Dave snapped in return, but his words were quiet. John stepped forward and laid a hand on Dave's shoulder, just a gentle pressure to reassure him.  
"We won't get caught. Call them all up. We're leaving at midnight." 

Jade seemed to be overcome by the sudden appearance of the Alternians, but Rose seemed unphased. As John explained his plan to Dave, the two girls began to get acquainted with the Alternians, and when midnight drew near, Dave gathered the four angels in front of the crowd of Alternians. He explained the use of invisibility cloakings, and the movement plan- to John's house.

"Eridan, Karkat, Feferi," Dave instructed the Alternians, "You're with Jade." as Karkat passed him, Dave caught him by his shirt sleeve. "If she falls, I blame it on you."  
Karkat gave a nod of responsibility,  
"Equius, Nepeta, Kanaya, you're with Rose." John nodded at Rose, who hugged Kanaya as she approached. The two had become fast friends.  
"I'm taking Vriska," he high-fived the ceruleanblood as she joined him, " And Meenah and Terezi." he dropped a gentle glare on Terezi as she passed to stand behind him, and she replied with her own sly smirk.  
"Which means that Sollux, Aradia, Tavros and Gamzee are with me." Dave concluded. "Jade and her party leaves first, with Rose's party. Jade, Rose, come out with one in front of the Alternian's, one behind. Make sure nobody is left behind."  

The two girls completed their commands with both care and spectacular acting. Anyone looking on would, and did, assume that Jade was waiting for an overly talkative friend as she stood outside, staring back into the open door of the house.   
Once Jade, Rose, and their respective parties were out of sight, John flung himself into the night air and hovered a few metres above Dave's house, willing himself to act, to show excitement over the terse worry that wracked him, that narrowed his vision and seared his lungs so that he could hardly breathe. He felt the swoop of air beside him that told him that his party had arrived, and a hand on his shoulder told him that Dave's party had too. Dave himself appeared seconds later, locking up the now-dark house and taking to the air. He hovered beside John momentarily, allowing the bluewing to see the fear etched into his eyes whilst his expression feigned indifference, and then they were off.

 

Halfway across the void between the city and John's house, Dave stopped, "John," he called for his accomplice.  
John turned back just as Dave passed out.   
John's reaction was immediate, he dove for Dave and caught him with a heavy flump, and quickly followed up with a quick cloak of invisibility, shielding Dave's party from sight. The weight of Dave combined with the strain of seven invisibility spells narrowed John's vision to a tiny speck.

By all rights, a newly Fledged Angel using so much magic at once, John should have died right there in mid-air. However, he was so hell-bent on not letting Dave down that he pressed onward toward his home. The Alternians around him whispered encouragements that John wouldn't have heard, even if they had been shouted.

 

Rose flung open the door as John drew close to his home, the Alternians flew ahead of John, who by this point was flying completely blind.   
He followed the rush of air they left behind, entered his main room and passed out on the floor.

 

He awoke to mid-day sunlight skittering over the walls and roof of his main room. He was enveloped in warmth, but with no blankets in sight.  
 _'You refused to let go of him.'_ Jade's voice shocked him, it had been a while since she'd had to talk directly into John's mind. And indeed, it appeared she was correct. John's fingers were twined in Dave's shirt, and he had him pulled against himself as hard as possible, John's head was nestled under his chin. What he was surprised to find, however, was that Dave has his arm around him, too. His grip was protective and almost possessive, but it was comfortable.  
 _'Going back to sleep. Wake me when he does.'_  
'Got it.'   
Right there and then, John decided, Jade was the best sister anyone could have.

 

 _'John, Dave's awake.'  
_ John blearily blinked his eyes open. The mid-day sunlight was gone, replaced with a scattering of orange and pink from Jade's bright balls of light. He felt the older angel shift and wriggle beside him, and loosened his death grip as he waited for Dave to properly awaken.

No more than 5 minutes later, Dave was sitting on the edge of the sofa, stretching his wings carefully. "How long've I been out?"  
"About twenty or so hours." Rose appeared in the doorway, balancing two bowls of soup on each arm. Jade hurriedly took two of them, handing one each to John and Dave before taking her own bowl from Rose and they all sat down to eat in silence together.

"So I passed out." Dave recapped once they were finished, "And John caught me?"   
"He didn't just catch you." Jade glowered slightly at Dave, "He saved you, and hid all of your party. He came home almost dead."   
"All... All seven?" Dave stared at John, who was rocking gently where he sat. The angel in question gave a weak smile and held a hand out, allowing weak sparks to escape into the air. The effort was too much for him, and he passed out once again.   
"He should have died. Every law, every lesson we know, all says he should be dead." Jade stared at Dave coldly as he shifted John back into a laying position.   
"Loyalty is the only thing stronger than everything you know." Dave shot back without missing a beat, brushing hair back from John's forehead to feel for his temperature. He was running a fever, and the Peacekeeper slowly began to channel healing power into John.   
"Dave, I don't think you understand-"   
"I understand fully, Jade. I do. Can you-" the Strider stopped to clear his throat where his voice had caught, "Can you send Karkat in?" Jade almost protested indigniantly, but upon seeing the redwing's expression, she left the room silently.

Karkat entered a few minutes layer, and the moment the door opened, Dave's head shot up to look over. Before the Alternian could utter an insult of greeting, Dave was on his feet and had thrown himself into the arms of his best friend, crying unrestrainedly into the dark grey shirt bunched around Karkat's shoulders. Karkat, in turn, hefted Dave over to the closest chair and collapsed into it with his angel curled against him murmuring blurred apologies both to Karkat and his miracle angel that had saved his life, and the life of everything he loved.


	2. Demons

Karkat tipped his head back into the soft fur cover of the chair he sat in. His dumbass excuse of a best friend was laid across his lap, bright red wings enveloping both the angel and the demon in a feathery cloak that was both pleasantly cool and cozy.  
Jade peeked quietly into the room, catching the red-tinted eyes of Karkat before ducking back out. The Alternian in question groaned, and softly muttered, "You're okay Harley."  
Jade gratefully re-entered the room, smiling at Karkat as she passed to check on John.  
Dave's healing had indeed cleared up her brother's fever, but he was still ill from overexertion, and she knew he would have to rest for days before he was anything close to recovering.  
"Are you okay?" Jade shot over her shoulder at Karkat, receiving a pause before he replied,  
"As much as I can be."  
"You don't have to be their leader, you know." Jade straightened, stretching, before promptly stripping her black clothes.  
"I do." Karkat muttered as he politely averted his eyes, "It's kind of... not my decision."  
"Sure it is." A green nightdress was nabbed from the top of a washing pile  
"They've been relying on me for too long."  
"And they have others to keep an eye on them." Jade finished getting changed and wandered over to sit in front of Karkat, idly changing the colour of the floating light orbs to a purple-pink colour. Karkat matched her piercing gaze for only a few seconds before he dropped his eyes to Dave.  
Jade reached out gently, patting the Alternian on the knee. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
Karkat was silent for a few moments, "Yeah, I do."

 

John awoke the next morning, still weak and feverish, to find Karkat asleep on his chair, Dave curled beside him and Jade asleep against his legs.  
He got up and weakly strolled through the house, finding the hidden, warded room with the Alternians, and found Rose slumped against Kanaya, not even changed out of her mission clothes. Kanaya, too, had not changed from the night before, which led John to believe that the two girls had fallen asleep together.  
He glanced over the rest of the Alternians to find only one awake, but blatantly ignoring him, and instead of making the effort to communicate with the computer-oriented yellowblood, he gave a farewell wave and headed back to the main room.  
Finding sleep escaped him by natural terms, he resolved to knock himself out by changing the colour of the light balls to his signature deep blue.  
  
Most of the residents of the house slept in until well into the afternoon, the exceptions being Sollux, who never slept, and Aradia, who usually woke early.  
She leant gently against Sollux, watching him as he worked, creating a bright red-and-blue code file.  
She also watched as he test-launched the file and promptly wiped his computer.  
As Sollux cursed in a rush of whispers, she laughed.

  
  
The group congregated in the main room, crowding idly around John. Dave had the bluewing pulled against him, semi-conscious, to leave room for others to sit down.  
Jade had declared that, since they would all be living together now (although seventeen is a large number to have in a house,) it was time for mass introductions.  
And to make it more fun, or rub salt in the wound, depending on how you looked at it, Jade had made it into a sort of 'game.'  
"Draw a question from the hat," She shook the offending headpiece, "and when it's you're turn, read it out, then answer it!" hands plunged into the hat with varying degrees of excitement and venom.  
"Once everyone has read and answered their question, we'll re-pick!"

"'What's your name?' Karkat fucking Vantas. Do we really have to do this?" Karkat tossed his paper back in the hat for the third time,  
"Hey Karkat!" John grinned weakly from his seat on the floor, leaning against Dave.  
"Yes, we do!" Jade caught the end of John's statement, flashing a warning glare at the Alternian despite the positive expression plastered onto her face, "Relax, this is our last round."

  
"My hobbieth include coding, computering and generally being a thithtain." Sollux concluded the session. Aradia shoved his shoulder gently in protest.  
"Is that it, then?" she tested, receiving a hummed response from Jade which everyone generally took to mean 'yes,' and so began to filter out of the room.  
By the time everyone had settled, John and Dave had fallen asleep. Dave laid, sprawled, on the arm of the sofa. His head was thrown back into the crook where the arm met the back, and John was spread across his torso, on his stomach, with his head turned to the side to breathe. Rose snorted a laugh at the duo's position, and straightened John's wings, hovering in mid-air to position one in a convenient position. Kanaya observed her flight with an approving nod, "You're Improving Very Well."  
"Thank you." Rose completed her rearranging and directed herself back to the floor.  
"Rose, Kanaya, your tea is in the kitchen." Jade interrupted the silence as she re-entered the room. Rose thanked her, and Kanaya politely inclined her head before they both headed out to get it.  
Karkat received a brief hug and a few whispered encouragements from Jade as he left the room so that Jade could open the curtains and let the new evening light into the open space.  
Despite her affection for silence, Jade found the noiselessness of the room oppressive and unbearable after only her third cup of green tea. She escaped the overbearing silence in favour of Karkat's loud cursing and Eridan's romantic complaints, settling herself with the Alternians.  
"Dave, you're awake aren't you?" John's voice washed over the quiet of the room, dulled by exhaustion. The catch in his newfound friend's breathing gave him the answer he needed, and he smiled. "I can tell by your breathing patterns."  
There was a swish of wings as John sat up, both him and Dave arranging themselves in a less awkward position. Dave clenched his fingers in the soft material of the couch covering, his gaze fixed firmly on his knees.  
Clueless, but sensing something was wrong, John turned to his sister for advice.  
 _'Jade, there's something wrong with Dave.'_  
 _'What is it?'_  
 _'I don't know. Help me.'_  
  
Jade talked him through everything she could gather from Karkat about Dave, until finally,  
 _'I... think I know what's wrong. I'll tell you in a minute. Shh.'_ John silenced his sister momentarily, then took her answering silence as a chance. He reached out to his friend, wrapping his fingers gently around Dave's wrist and studying his face.  
"It's not your fault."  
"What?" The elder angel was taken by surprise,  
"It's not your fault, none of it is your fault. Fledgelings fall, Angels are chosen, and stress can get on top of anyone. It's not your fault that your first student Fell, Dave. It's not your fault that you were chosen to guard the Alternians, either. And it is not your fault that you passed out, and if you did it again, so would I. Even if I had to hide a hundred Alternians, I would, because I'd trust you to make sure they were safe afterwards, even if I wasn't."  
Dave burst into tears.

  
_'Jade he's crying what do I do help me oh my god!'_   
_'Hug the fuck out of him.'_

  
"Shh, Dave. It's okay." John moved toward him, tugging the frozen Angel into his arms and holding him until his sobs subsided, and his movement freed up enough to allow him to wrap his arms around John's neck and bury his face in his shoulder.  
Muttered apologies were met with gentle touches and deep breathing and whispered accept ions. Despite his permeating tiredness, John found it within him to stay awake to watch over Dave until his friend cried himself to sleep. The rhythmic rise-and-fall of Dave's chest hypnotised him into a soft, warm sleep.

 

"Ffffuck John let go."  
"Egbert wake up you're clinging to me like ivy."  
"John are you okay?"  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, Jade! Jade, Karkat, Rose!"  
Dave's voice registered in John's mind, but it seemed warped. Not like it was from a distance, but a different dimension all together. The bluewing noted the panic in Dave's voice and tried hard, so very hard, to open his eyes, to release the static feeling balled in his fingers that he knew vaguely was fabric.  
But light wouldn't seep in through cracks in his opening eyelids, because they would not open, and his fingers stayed stubbornly curled as if clinging to a lifeboat in the ocean of feverish fear.  
"Shit, John, sit up. Come on, Egbert, sit with me. Jade, for fucks sake!"  
The sound of a door opening and faint cursing accompanied by footsteps missed John, but his sister's voice did not.  
 _'John, are you still conscious?'_  
With every last ounce of effort he could manage, John replied,  
 _'Barely.'_

  
"He's awake," Jade began to pry John's fingers from Dave's shirt, "He can't move. He's... He's in a coma of some kind."  
"He should have been sleeping." The angry tone in Dave's voice struck John the wrong way, everything inside him strained in an effort to comfort the Peacekeeper, but nothing would move and it annoyed him.  
'It's not his fault tell him it's not his fault.' The bolt of desperation caused a cacophonous chorus of the phrase to ricochet in Jade's mind, and John heard his phrase repeated by Jade's tongue.  
Still, the paralyzed angel struggled against his dark bonds.  
  
"His hand moved." Karkat's startled tone struck Dave and Jade, and they watched as John slowly opened his hand, his fingers trembling as they released Dave's shirt.  
"John." the name tumbled from Dave before he had the chance to stop it, his hands moving to curl around John's fingers. Jade warned him away from the action,  
"Distracting him could set him back."  
A slurred word was breathed through John's lips, his entire body quivering as he fought to free himself. Around him, hands linked in a silent prayer to bring back their friend and sibling.  
Something in the hope and desperation that littered the air between Dave, Karkat and Jade seeped slowly into John, and he found himself struggling less and less as the ropes binding him to nothingness loosened and he was himself again.  
The first crack of deep blue through strained eyelids made Dave gasp with dry sobs, Jade drop to her knees, and Karkat slump into the edge of the sofa, all unaware of the healing magic they had preformed but undoubtedly feeling the debt of it.  
John heaved in deep breaths, clenching and unclenching his hands. There was a prickling sensation cloaking his body, and he didn't like it. He sat up, with a grin of relief stretching across his face.

"Sollux, please, come back inside-"  
"Aradia, I know what I'm doing. Pleath, I jutht need thith one part to repair the computer, then I can finith thith code."  
"Ask one of the Angels to get it, Sol, you're riskin' the whole lot a us here."  
"Shut up ED." Sollux slipped out of the back door, Aradia's shouts after her boyfriend were muffled by Eridan's hand clamping across her mouth.  
"If you shout you're goin' to get us all caught an' then where would we be?" he protested, his surprising logic shaking Aradia into silence. "Good. We should find one a the Angels."

  
As if on cue, Jade entered the kitchen. She spotted Aradia and Eridan standing next to the door, a touch too close together to be sharing in idle kitchen conversation, and approached them with every intention of finding out what they were doing.  
Minutes later, she and Dave spun out into the night air, silently scanning for Sollux.  
"I should have brought John." Jade hissed under her breath, the warm air clouding in the icy air. Dave shot her a questioning look as they rose into the sky, to which she explained their mental connection and ability to communicate telepathically. Almost as soon as she had finished talking, Dave grasped at her, his fingers gently digging into the soft flesh of her upper arm. He pointed toward a flitting dark shape and they both dove toward it, looping around on both sides, with only Jade spotting the stalking shape behind it.  
"Dave!" Jade's voice was almost lost on the wind, but the redwing jerked his head to look at her, "He's being tailed, disguise him!"  
Sollux jerked upright as he saw the grey of his skin change to an olive tone fitting to an angel. His wings, when he inspected them, also had become feathered. He looked around, red-and-blue covered eyes spotting the trio of figures closing in on him, and dimly registered that, yes, now was probably a good time to panic.  
Having a panic attack was definitely counter-productive, though.  
  
Dave dropped through the air to catch his friend as he froze up, fingers clutching dimly at the fabric covering his chest.  
Sollux's breathing was too fast and too shallow, his already warped vision becoming more and more terrifying as he sunk further into his fear.  
"Don't touch him!" Jade plummeted beside Dave, straining her telekinetic powers to take Sollux to the ground without harm. "Make sure he's okay with anything that happens," Jade instructed carefully, fixing her eyes on the approaching dot of a stranger, "Anything unexpected could cause further anxiety. Sollux, hand me that hard drive if you want to keep it."  
The piece of computer equipment changed hands and was easily hidden under Jade's copious amount of skirt.  
"I'll deal with this guy, breathe with him. Don't give me any bullshit, Dave, Sollux is in danger and so are we if he breaks that disguise so do it." The last part came as a snap as Dave opened his mouth to protest, and before he could continue doing so, Jade took off.  
  
"Hey, you were following our friend!" The best defence, Jade decided, was a good offence, and dug straight in with an accusing glare and tone.  
"Looked like an Alternian to me, mate, are you hiding our Alternia-bound jailbird?"  
"Who's asking?" Careful, Jade reminded herself, an outright denial would not play well with her brash character front.  
"Jake English, Peacekeeper." A snap of the stranger's fingers revealed the signature robes of a fully-fledged Angel, a mark that only Peacekeepers kept on hand.  
"Well, that's a turn. I thought Peacekeepers were meant to be intelligent?" Jade rolled her eyes, praying her front was holding. She had never had a reason to act a part before, but now the future of herself, and all of her friends, rested on it. And she'd be lying if she denied the idea that that scared the everliving shit out of her.  
"Watch your tone, miss. Let's take a gander at this Alternian then."  
"I don't know where you've been looking, but he's no Alternian." Jade sighed, feigning a relenting front as she turned to fly back to Dave and Sollux, the latter of the two looked like he had calmed considerably, although he was still shaking, which reminded her.  
"Also," she threw over her shoulder to Jake as they drew closer, "go easy on him. He had a panic attack when he realised he was being closed in on. Paranoia." she dismissed Jake's next question with her final word, and they landed.  
  
Jake inspected Sollux as closely as he dared, every time he made a move to touch the still-nervous being, Jade growled at him in warning.  
Eventually, Jake sighed and shook his head. "Alright, chaps, I was mistaken. Egad, that's the third time this week, us Peacekeepers really are off our game."  
"How many of you ith there?" Sollux asked tentatively,  
"Nine." Responded Jake and Dave in unison, causing Jake to stare at the younger Angel.  
"Dave Strider, Peacekeeper of Skaia." Dave greeted, staring coldly at Jake through his shades. The dark-haired Angel raised his brows in surprise, but waved it off almost immediately. "Can I trust you to take these strapping young Angels home, Dave?"  
"Of course." Dave quelled his incessant need to make a gay joke and bowed, exhaling only when Jake was out of sight.  
"That was close." Jade breathed as she offered a hand to Sollux, "What the _hell_ were you doing, Sollux Captor? You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have gotten all of us captured!"  
"Did... Did you really jutht quote the lame wizard movieth that ED watcheth?" And from that point on, neither Dave nor Jade could get a word out of Sollux, because he simply couldn't stop laughing at the shade of red that Jade blushed.

Aradia flung her arms around Sollux's neck the moment his angelic disguise shattered, but she also coupled it with a sort of headbutt which resulted in both of them lying on the floor, moaning in pain and cursing in a jumble of half-formed words. Eridan sat on the countertop, rolling his eyes in exasperation, but gladly wrapping an arm around Jade's shoulders as she exhaled heavily into the bunched material of his cloak.  
"If you ever pull a fucking stunt like that again, I will cook you and eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Are we fucking clear?" Dave's tone was calm, making the threat evermore real.  
"Crythtal." Sollux grunted from the floor as Aradia muffled her giggles in his shirt.

 

  
Hammering came at their front door before dawn. It was Rose who answered, with Jade close behind, each with weapons at the ready. The moment the door war open far enough, two figures tumbled inside and closed the door behind them, the tell-tale light of a disguise shattering catching their attention.  
"Jake?" Jade caught sight of the Peacekeeper's face as Dave came into the hallway to see what the commotion was about.  
Jake was leaning against the door, panting, his hands splayed across the white of the main plates. In the stairwell, huddled in a corner and bleeding profusely from a slash across her side, was Aranea Serket.


	3. Peacecorps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the house of "The Author Doesn't Know How To Write"  
> Also tragic backstories boohoo  
> Also dont be put off by the amount of relationshippy stuff and please be ready for a plot twist 3833

Dave pressed his way through to Aranea, calling for Meenah even as he picked her up and carried her toward the Alternian safe room, leaving Jade and Rose to deal with Jake.

 

Jade's first move was to loop one of Jake's arms around her shoulders and heave him into the main room, deposit him on a seat and brighten the lights. "Stay there." She snapped as method of instruction before leaving the room, looping her hand through Rose's and pulling her along the corridor into the Alternian's hidey-hole.

"Karkat, pass me the bandages. Feferi, I need water. Meenah, keep pressure on this whilst I..." Dave handed out orders, one after the other, taking items and moving about quickly. Meenah, the usually-brash fuchsiablood was pale as she pressed the bloodstained cloth against the gash in Aranea's side.  
Vriska stood on the opposite side to Meenah, her knuckles white as she grasped the table that had been transformed into a makeshift hospital bed. It was down to her that Aranea was asleep, and it took all of her concentration to keep the elder Demon's consciousness calm, preventing her from waking up.  
"Shift." Dave commanded Meenah as Feferi returned with a pan of cool water. He carefully cleaned the wound, which was slowly stopping its flow of blood. "How much would you say she's lost?"  
"'Bout a half-litre here," Meenah unravelled a roll of bandages, "Who knows how much before she came in?"  
"I'd estimate at around a litre, judging by her pulse. She's breathing too fast for it to be healthy." Jade stepped in to the equation, fingers resting under the Alternian's chin. "We need to get her recovering, stat. If we can't get any more blood..." she shrugged, but her movements were tense, "There's a chance she'll die."  
Meenah cursed and Dave bit his lip, Feferi placed a hand comfortingly on each of their shoulders. “Well there really is only one possibility!” She said carefully, her gaze going to Vriska. “But we don’t know if even Vriska will be a match!”  
“I’m her sister, of course I will.” The garbled words spilled out of Vriska in a torrent. Despite her primarily selfish nature, it was clear that the younger ceruleanblood cared a lot for her friends and family, even if she didn’t show it.  
“Would you be willing to give Aranea some of your blood, though, Vriska?” Jade asked carefully, the process was a rather nerve-wracking one, albeit simple enough. That being said, Jade was still concerned that the Serket sister’s familial bond may not have been enough for a correct blood match, but with nothing else to try, it was their only choice. Vriska found her voice blocked by a lump in her throat and simply nodded.

Immediately, Jade sprung into leader mode, “Rose, get Jake, we’re going to need him. And John, if he feels up to it, but if he’s asleep then don’t wake him. Eridan, find me some needles and Tavros get the candles in the bottom-right cupboard on the east wall of the kitchen. Feferi, more water, boil it this time. Karkat…”

Once everyone’s orders had been handed out, Jade set to work. She sterilised the needles and put together a makeshift donor section, going off everything Rose had read and she had seen when studying the topic of nursing and medical aid.  
Vriska buried her head in John’s shoulder as her blood was taken; the bluewing had woken with all the noise and come to see what the commotion was about.  
Once they had roughly half a litre of the bright cerulean liquid, Jade and Jake set their work on filling Aranea’s depleted veins with it, semi-skilled hands moving swiftly across grey skin, taking a pulse here and measuring breathing rates there.  
“Pulse is returning to normal.”  
“Breathing rate is evening out.”  
After a nerve-wracking half-hour, Aranea lay on the table in a deep slumber, and although the initial rest itself was Vriska’s doing, they younger Serket no longer had to constrain her elder sister to sleep, as she slept by herself.

All evidence of the transfer of blood was burnt to ashes, and burnt again for good measure. Finally, once everything was clean, Dave pried John from Vriska’s grip and nodded as he carried the younger Angel to his bedroom.  
Jake was permitted to sleep on the couch in the main room, and everybody remaining dispersed and slept, exhausted from the pre-dawn antics. They slept well into the day, not even Aradia waking before the sun hung directly above them, somehow persuading Sollux to sleep with her.

Jake found himself cornered the moment he was awake enough to answer questions. Dave and Jade pinned him on the sofa, not physically, but using intimidation to hold him in place.  
“Alright, English, time for answers.” Dave glowered at his fellow Peacekeeper. “You turned up on John’s doorstep with a fucking Alternian bleeding out next to you, I think a good place to start would be ‘How the fuck?’”  
“Dirk, Dirk Strider; He-”  
“Whoa, wait- my _brother_? I haven’t, I mean…”  
“Dave?” Jade reached toward the redwing, an unconscious comforting movement.  
“Should have guessed from the surnames, Strider isn’t a common one. He was tracking an Alternian hideout, everyone’s been on high alert since the sweep earlier today, we picked up some residual Alternian traces, but no actual Alternians.”  
“Of course, I forgot about the sweep!” Jade’s eyes grew wide with revelation,  
“Yes, well, we wouldn’t be so bothered if the traces hadn’t been in the bloody heart of the city! Right next to the Peacecorps, tiny apartment space. We checked it out, it’d been burnt clean, we couldn’t find anything.”  
“B-Burnt?” Dave whispered, barely audible, so Jade repeated it.  
“Yes, why d’you ask mate?”  
“My house. That was my home, I have no-where to live.”  
“You idiot.” Jade thudded him in the arm, “You can live here. I thought that was the plan anyhow! John was pretty excited about that part. Anyhow, Jake, continue.”  
“Right, well, Strider- I mean, Dirk, sorry- found a dust trail, which we discovered a few months back, is shed by certain older Alternians. They shed their wings, can you believe? Anyhow, Dirk and I were following the trail when I got pulled into an alley. Dirk was so busy with his trail, he didn’t even notice, what a prat, and I met Aranea. She begged me for help, bless her heart, and I’m a sucker for blue lookers so I admit I may have been a touch smitten! Unfortunately, no amount of dust can keep Dirk from being an overprotective boyfriend, and guess who popped in at that moment? Yep, Dirk. He attacked Miss Serket, but damn her, she’s a graceful fighter. She dodged all his attacks, save the last one. He slashed her and went for her arm before she managed to knock him out, what a girl! Anyhow, all she could say were two names, over and over, ‘Meenah, Dave, Meenah, Dave’ so after a minute or two of her incessant blabbering I managed to extract the last names from her, Peixes and Strider, and I thought, ‘Hey, Strider’s the guy I met earlier’- did I mention this was after our little encounter? No? Well, now you know- and I teleported the two of us to the place I pinned you three down. From there, it was a matter of guessing.” Dave let out a low whistle at Jake’s second-to-last sentence; transportation was a tough power to master, and required a lot of power and skill. It was a power that had to be taught, and its secrets were closely guarded.  
“How long have you been a Peacekeeper?” he asked, curious.  
“Oh, coming up to eight years, now.” Jake waved a hand airily.  
“You can’t be a day over eighteen!” Jade protested,  
“Seventeen, eighteen this December.” Jake flashed her a bright grin.  
“You were inducted when you were ten?” from Dave.  
“Indeed, the solstice following my birthday!” Jake’s tone held pride.  
“I think,” a voice interrupted, “The main issue here is, what’ll happen when Dirk wakes up?”  
“Devil fucking dickens!”  
“Who the fuck-?”  
A chuckle did nothing to calm them as the speaker stepped out of the corner of the room where they had concealed themselves. “Jake, really, did you expect anyone else?”  
“Jane, Lord Almighty, please-“  
“Oh relax, you big buffoon!” Jane hopped over the back of the couch to sit next to Jake.  
“Are we just taking in waifs and strays now?”  
“Watch your tongue, Dave, I’m still a threat.” The newcomer joked in a faux-warning tone. “I’ll handle this, Jake, get back to Dirk. Pretend you were knocked out too, just act dizzy, you’ll be fine.” Jake nodded and obeyed, a rush of air alerting them to his transportation.  
“Jane Crocker, Peacekeeper.” Jane held a hand out toward Dave and Jade, “ _Head_ Peacekeeper, I should add. Of this division, anyhow.” Mentally, Jane smacked herself in the face for her stupid introduction.  
“Dave Strider, Peacekeeper. Probably in your division.”  
“Another Strider? Huh! No, I'm pretty sure you’re Roxy’s.” Jane leant back into the couch, idly cycling the lights through various colours. “So, I’m guessing you’re all as sick of the Alternia-Skaia split as I am?”  
“Hell yes.”  
“How many?”  
“Thirteen, fourteen with Aranea. Thirteen permanent.” Jane hooted softly at the number,  
“Wow, Dave Strider, that’s a lot. And for five years, too!”  
“Hang on, how did you know? Five years?” Dave glared at Jane, suddenly, and rightfully, wary. Jane clapped her hands to her mouth, “Oh dear!”  
“Talk, Crocker.” Jade glared daggers at the older Angel, already gathering strength for attack spells.  
“Oh dear me! I suppose, well, let’s start from the beginning.”

Jane told Dave and Jade her life story, how she’d been taken in by Her Imperious Condescension, the political divide that had cause the imperial ruler to send Jane back to Skaia, how she had become a Peacekeeper through the influence of her old friends in the Alternian government, but worked her way into favour by ‘capturing’ Alternian outcasts, all the while she was really rescuing the lost Alternians and sending them home, hiding the runaways from both government establishments herself. A long-term rebel, Jane labelled herself, and continued. She revealed that she had been protecting the Alternians that didn’t trust her enough to directly approach her by faking the sweep results for the city ever since she’d first been trusted to do the sweeps. She also revealed that she had known about Dave’s Alternian adoptions from the Dolorosa, and that Jane had been the one to bribe the Peacecorps into inducting him.  
“And of course, I trace all the powerful spells that happen in my division, so when Jake teleported, I had to check it out.” Jane shrugged, “Sorry for barging in on you.” The finishing sentence came more as a question, a wish for acceptance and forgiveness, as was reflected in the light flush that coloured Jane’s face. Jade, who had previously been shooting angry glares towards Jane, broke out her brightest grin and the best sentence of acceptance she could, “Do you do hugs?”

“How’s Aranea?” were the first words out of Jake’s mouth when the door was opened the evening following. Dave smirked slightly at him, “Recovering.”  
“Good. I uh, I brought someone else with me-”  
Before Jake had the chance to introduce the visitor, he had an arm slung around his shoulders, a tall male angel with orange wings and triangular shades dominated the doorway, “-Dirk, Dave. Dave, D-”  
“Bro?”  
“Egad, why does everyone keep interrupting me!?” Jake was ignored as Dirk let his arm drop, barging past him into the hallway. He was taller than Dave by a few inches, but bearing undeniable resemblance. They both had the same sunshine blond hair and pale skin, although their faces were different shapes, with Dirk taking a more angled appearance to Dave’s pointed one, there was no mistaking their familial relationship.  
“Holy mackerel! I completely forgot you mentioning your brother! Gadzooks, Dirk, why didn’t you ever tell me? Is this why you wouldn’t let me meet your family?”  
“It’s been fucking _years_ , Bro, where the fuck did you go?” one of Dave’s hands found its way to Dirk’s shirt, balling in anger.  
“I don’t know, man, I was like eight. Rox and I got lost, got taken in by an awesome granny, met Jake, ‘cause it was his granny, became peacekeeper, etcetera. What happened to you?”  
“Raised by wolves, what do you fuckin’ think? Truth is, I don’t remember. I was old enough to get my own shit together, just. Four years, I survived on the fuckin’ streets, Bro. Four years!”  
“We should probably close the door.” Jake pushed at the arguing brothers and slipped the door closed behind him.  
“Not my fuckin’ fault Dad wasn’t around! I was a _kid_ , Dave, I went to play with my friend because that’s what _kids do_!”  
“Well just because we haven’t seen each other for ten years; hello, I became a Peacekeeper aged ten and took in twelve Alternian runaways and for five years I have been hiding these devils and avoiding the law. There we go. That’s my life story.”  
“Hiding Alternians?” Dirk’s tone made Dave’s heart stop and breath catch. “That’s illegal, little brother.”  
“Dirk, now, calm down-”  
“Gonna have to turn you in, Dave.” Dirk said softly, reaching toward his younger brother,  
“Not on my watch, Strider. Hands off the redwing.” Jane stepped into the hallway, radiating a sense of power that Dirk blatantly ignored.  
“You too, Jane?” Jake appeared elated at the revelation.  
“Me too, now Dirk, are you going to listen to me or are we going to have to stop you?” Jane’s hands were shaking with adrenaline and fear, but she kept her voice steady. She didn’t want to turn on Dirk, he had always been a good friend to her, despite his violently anti-demon beliefs, but the time for a rebellion was drawing near and every ally was valuable; she could not let him harm Dave.  
“I’ll listen.” Dirk dropped his arms, “You have five minutes.” And he sat down in the middle of the floor whilst Jane and Dave pieced together an ideology of equality.

“Meenah?” the fuchsiablood heard her name whispered through dry lips and moved faster than she ever remembered herself moving before. “Aranea!”  
“What happened?”  
“Some glubbing chump slashed you.” Meenah clamped Aranea’s outstretched hand between her own. “Vriska gave you some blood. We stitched you up.” She added with a shrug.  
“But I’ll live, right?” Aranea’s grip on Meenah’s hand tightened with the prospect of death, and the ex-heiress smiled, “Yeah, no glubbing way you’re goin’ anywhere soon.”  
“Oh, for the love of Cod!” Feferi barked from the other side of the room, “Kiss already!”

 

“I can’t say I’m entirely convinced,” Dirk mused after Jane and Dave finished passionately explaining their cause, “But as my friends, I’m inclined to trust your judgment.”  
A collective sigh of relief emanated from the others. Jane helped Dirk to his feet, “I have a plan. A stupid, ridiculous plan, but one that might just work.”  
“Are you going to tell us this stupid, ridiculous plan?” Jake asked as Jane pushed her way toward the door.  
“Not just yet, I need to find Roxy.”  
“Can you _please_ stop filling this already overcrowded house?” Rose interrupted from the stairs, where she was leaning over the banister, then hesitated as the name that Jane had dropped kicked in, “Actually, stay there just a moment, I’ll join you.” And she took off back up the stairs, calling for Kanaya to grab some clothes for her.  
“What? Who are you?” Jane called after her, receiving only a muffled name in response.  
“Right, whilst we wait, everybody in the damn living room.” Dave grumbled, organisation reflexes kicking in.

 

“So you’re coming with me… why?” Jane questioned Rose as the exited the house and took to the sky, Rose was slightly shaky on her wings with the winds that ruffled past her,  
“Hmmm,” Rose considered the truth,  but her eventual conclusion was,  “let’s save that for when we find Roxy.”  
“Okay, whatever you say. Do you need a hand there…?”  
“Rose, no, I’m fine.” Rose stabilised herself with great care, “Which way are we going?”  
“Well, Rox lives in the city, so that’s where we’re headed.”  
As they flew toward the tall buildings, Rose unconsciously asked, “Will she be drunk yet?” to which Jane looked surprised, but answered as levelly as she could manage under the creepy vibe she was receiving from the violet eyed angel, “Drunk, Roxy? She gave up the drink the year she became a Peacekeeper, I think she mentioned something about her younger sis- oh.” The pieces clicked together in Jane’s mind, and Rose could swear she saw the realisation dawn on her like the sunlight in the morning.  
The rest of the flight was taken in silence, with Jane sneaking sidelong glances at Rose, who deliberately pretended she didn’t notice.

Jane knocked on Roxy’s door, hard and loud and fast, because she knew that was the only way she’d get Roxy to come to the door.  
She was correct, and more than a little embarrassed to find Roxy answering in very little clothing. The bright-eyed Peacekeeper cheerily invited Jane into her home, not sparing more than a glance on Rose. Jane assumed, correctly, that Roxy didn’t recognise her younger sister.

“What brings you over, Janey? And who’s your friend?” Roxy beamed as she handed a bottle of sour apple soda to each of the visitors before cracking open her own bottle.  
“I have a serious and rather illegal matter to discuss with you, meaning you’ll need to get dressed.” The last half of the sentence sounded marginally grudging, making Roxy’s smile widen slightly. Jane huffed at her and continued, “As for my friend here… I think I’ll let her explain that. Excuse me, I’ll go get you some clothes.” And she got up and left the room, leaving Rose and Roxy sitting in an awkward silence, sipping sour soda.  
“So,” Roxy drawled her words, trying to pass as much time as she could to speed up Jane’s return, “Why’d Jane bring you along? What’s your name?”  
“I asked to come with Jane,” Rose spoke for the first time, and Roxy’s eyes widened slightly, “Rose. Rose is my name. Have I really changed that much?”  
“R-Rose?” her name was a squeak as it was expelled from Roxy’s mouth. The younger of the siblings set her piercing violet gaze on Roxy, keeping her face impassive even as she fell apart inside.  
The past six years were nothing compared to Dave’s story, her elder sibling hadn’t walked out on her; she’d walked out on Roxy. After their mother had died, a common trait with Angels, Roxy had been forced to take the mothering role. Of course, Rose had wanted none of it, being old enough to care for herself so long as her sister was around. Roxy had slowly lost her sense of self-worth, having been raised by her mother to believe she would have to care for Rose, that it was her purpose. It was nobody’s fault, all older siblings, save from Dirk apparently, were taught this mindset.  
As Roxy’s self-worth became more and more depleted, she began to drink more, and more, until she was spending every day inebriated. Rose had grown tired of her sister’s drinking and left, walking away from her drunken sister even as Roxy had called her name loud enough to wake three floors above and below their shared apartment.  
“Where did you go, after you left?” Roxy broke the silence first, knowing that both siblings had been re-covering the past in their minds.  
“John and Jade’s house, of course.” Unlike Roxy and Rose, Jade and John had dealt with the death of their father with relative ease. They had mourned for exactly a month, and then had taken on their responsibilities without complaint, “They took me in and cared for me.”  
“Where do you live now?”  
“I still live with them.”  
Jane returned at that moment, interrupting their catchup session by throwing Roxy’s clothes in her face.  
“Get dressed, we’ve got to leave. Also pack a bag of all your important stuff. Pack light.”  
“What’s going on, Janey?” Roxy’s concern at her friend’s worried expression was clear, and Rose felt her heart twinge slightly. Jane sucked in a large breath, shaking her head as she was unable to speak. Rose chipped in for her, instead, “We’ll explain once we’re somewhere safer.”  
Roxy rushed around, grabbing little more than a small photo album, two more sets of clothes and a bottle of her soda before returning to Jane and placing a careful arm around her friend’s shoulders.  
“Let’s go, come on Jane.” Roxy’s voice was soft, as opposed to her usual bright and loud tone, “Somewhere safer.”

“John, Jade, I’m home!” Rose called as she ushered Jane and Roxy into the main room, where the other Angels were already waiting.  
“Ooh, Johnny, you grew!” were the first words out of Roxy’s mouth as she saw John, and she rushed over to ruffle his hair.  
“Holy shit, Roxy? I thought you fell off the face of Skaia!” John embraced Roxy without a trace of self-consciousness,  
“Nah I just got waaaaay too drunk and Rosey had enough of me.” Roxy returned the hug energetically before Jane peeled her away from John and pushed her back to her seat.  
“Okay, is everyone here?” a collective noise of acknowledgement came at Jane’s statement, so she began,  
“Okay! Most of you will know what I’m going to talk about, so I’ll just get right on with it! Now is the time for a rebellion. It is time to rise up against our government and fight for and alongside those that are oppressed and denied for being born on the wrong side of the Medium!” Jane’s words grew stronger and stronger as she talked, slowly and unconsciously rising higher into the air, “It’s time! Time to gather all the Alternian sympathisers, the rebels and the runaways, time to fight against the prejudice for the Demons! It’s time to let souls be souls, wherever they roam!” The last sentence finished, causing a roar of noise to rise from the other Angels in the room, Dirk and Roxy included.

 

“There are twenty-two of us in this house,” grumbled John to Dave as he slid himself under the covers of his bed, “That’s too many, I’m lucky there’s just me and you in here.”  
“Yeah, you can thank Jade for that.” Dave agreed as he slipped in beside the bluewing, settling himself so that John’s head rested under Dave’s chin, soft breaths washing over him.  
“I will.” replied John, curling into Dave. The past few days of the two of them being so close had resulted in an unconscious need to continue that way, and although ‘both knew but neither would say’ was a cliché phrase, it certainly applied in the situation.

John eased himself to sleep, his mind filled with the ancient ideals they’d been taught; an angel’s soul is split in half. Angels have the two halves of their soul placed into two beings, and if the Angels do not meet in one lifetime, then the Angels are reincarnated as they die to be reborn and find the other half of their soul.  
Once a soul was reunited, it was reformed and split again to run a different line of fate.  
It seemed like a pretty pointless tale to John, live and die repeatedly without beginning or end, but with Dave next to him, he finally understood. Their shared soul was absorbing the emotions and memories of the moment, and reminding both of the young Angels of the past stories written there.  
Dave felt John smile against his collarbone as they settled themselves to sleep.

 

“This is uncomfortable.” Jane grumbled, tangling her fingers with Roxy’s. Her blonde friend cracked a smile that was invisible in the darkness, forcing the hammock she and Jane were nestled in to swing slightly.  
“It’s not so bad!” she protested, drawing Jane closer to her under the blanket, shivering slightly at the cool night air.  
“Please, go to sleep.” Rose interrupted from below, an irritated, growling edge to her voice. “Kanaya is trying to do just that, and you are keeping her awake.” A quick glance over the side of the hammock showed Kanaya burying her face in Rose’s shoulder, face scrunched in disdain.  
“Sorry,” Roxy apologised, “We’ll try.”  
Despite Roxy’s promise, Jane’s muffled giggles could be heard from the hammock for a good half an hour afterwards as Roxy trailed gentle kisses down her nose.

“Karkat.” Jade snipped levelly at the Alternian who sat atop a counter with his knees pulled against his chest. “Karkat, sleep.”  
“Not until they’re safe.” Karkat turned red-tinted eyes on Jade who was carefully picking her way toward him across the sleeping Alternians.  
“They are safe,” Jade promised gently, “And we’ll need you well rested too.” She pushed herself up onto the counter, trembling slightly despite her amazing upper body strength as she blocked Karkat’s view and forced him to look at her. “There’s darkness ahead, Karkat! If we’re going to get anywhere with brightening it, we need our strongest forces to be ready.”  
“Strongest…” Karkat appeared to have trouble contemplating the full meaning of what Jade said, and as such, Jade huffed in exasperation and, in a twisted sort of desperation for the Alternian to understand, she kissed him.  
It took only a split second for either party to realise what Jade had done, and a further split second had Jade pulling back in shock at herself. And, at that notion, Karkat made a noise of disgruntled protest and settled a hand on her shoulder to pull her gently back towards him, not forcing, but more of a request. A request that Jade gladly obliged to for a few seconds longer, moving one of her hands to cover the hand that Karkat still had on the countertop.  
With a little persuasion and a few more kisses, Jade managed to lure Karkat to sleep.

 

The quiet that descended over the house was painful for Dirk, who lay awake in the middle of all the fuss. Jake was tucked against his side, snoring softly, and he could hear Aranea and Meenah’s rhythmic breathing from the other side of the room, but he just couldn’t sleep. He kept running over everything he’d said to Jane over the years, clueless about the equality agenda, oblivious to the fact that Jane was the biggest Alternian Runner that Skaia had ever seen, and he was bitterly regretting it.  
He regretted it because Jane was right, and so was Dave, and Jake, and Rose, they were all right. It was wrong, the prejudice against the Demons simple for being born Demons. The hatred and fear that came from not knowing, and, the thing that Dirk found he hated most now that he thought about it, their murders. The Alternians found outside of their segregated areas being Felled for seeking safety from the brutality of their society, forced upon them by the isolation of the Angels from the Demons.  
He huffed a guilt-ridden sigh and turned to bury his head into Jake’s hair, choosing to try and loose himself in the idea of the green-eyed Angel rather than dwell on his own mistakes.

 

The occupants of the house rose with the sun, Jane dispelled the angels aside from John and Dave across Skaia, instructing them to seek out Alternian safehouses and tell of the upcoming rebellion. Her specific instruction was to find friends, and equip them with a signal.  
Jane Crocker was single-handedly raising an army in the most dangerous place possible- in plain sight of the Peacecorps.


	4. Preparations

“You okay there John?” Dave asked his younger comrade, watching as John’s knuckles paled as he gripped the countertop, colour draining from his face.  
“I’m fine.” John replied determinedly, inhaling deeply before he steeled himself and continued, stuffing food into brown paper bags and setting them aside once they were full.

The main room was littered with the lunch packs, with all of John’s friends scattered across Skaia and the Alternians working relentlessly to form strategies, plans, weapons, anything to help, there were a lot of mouths to feed.  
John took the latest batch of food packs into the main room just as Jade entered, and he set them on the sofa as he hugged his sister.  
“Jade, you look exhausted.” He fussed. Jade seemed nonplussed, beaming at him with full force as she nabbed one of the fresh packs and peered inside, “Salad?” she asked.  
“Lettuce,” John corrected, “Not an actual salad.”  
“Good enough.” Jade shrugged, tucking into the sandwich and waving as she headed back to the door. Then, as an afterthought, she leaned back into the room and shouted after John’s retreating back. “I love you!”  
John smiled, fitting in an, “And you.” Before Jade was out of the door and into the air.

“Karkat’ll be pissed that he missed her.” Dave quipped as John re-entered the kitchen and retook his place at the counter, retrieving and packing the food Dave had set down.  
“He’ll have to deal with it, he’s probably asleep and that’s a miracle.” He replied offhandedly.  
“Don’t mention miracles, we’ll have Gamzee in here.” Dave shoved another sandwich at his friend, then looked back at his ingredients and groaned. “We’re out of lettuce again.”  
“We cannot go back to that store again; they’ll think we’re lettuce freaks.”  
“Then we’ll have to use some other bread fillers.”  
“Do not touch my chocolate spread. That’s mine. It’s so expensive getting the nut-free version.”  
“Oh so you’re allergic to nuts?” Coupled with a smirk and raised eyebrows, this earned Dave a thump in the arm, and then the duo went back to making sandwiches and putting fruit in bags whilst sharing playful banter.

“My hands look like they’ve been dipped in unicorn vomit.” Aradia observed, marvelling at the various colours of powder staining her grey skin for a moment before she took the next balloon and filled it higher with a scoop of blue. Nepeta took it from her and added a scoop of a different colour before investigating her own hands. “Hey, mine too!” she agreed, grinning at Aradia as the older Alternian handed her yet another balloon.  
Feferi tied off the end of each balloon bomb that came to her and placed it carefully alongside the others, assessing the structure of the workline.  
In the middle of the room, six barrels of multi-coloured powder were placed on plastic sheeting in the middle of the room, with Terezi, Aradia, Nepeta and herself stood beside them. Between them, they were filling water balloons with multi-coloured powders which could be used as bombs to blind their enemies when they were fighting, but mainly it was to keep Terezi occupied.  
Since the rebellion had been announced, the tealblood had been on edge, with not even Karkat being able to calm her down. Not that he hadn’t tried, of course, he’d sat with her for hours on end when Jade was away, muttering to her constantly. In the end, Nepeta had suggested the colourful distraction as a win-win for the force and for her friend. Aradia had joined in as Sollux was preoccupied with his coding, and Feferi had set the whole thing up at Nepeta’s request.

Vriska and Equius were working on artillery, with Sollux working on wiring electrical components and, sometimes, coding certain parts. So far, they had around fifty sets of communicative devices that would loop around the users neck like a collar, and that could communicate with the others at the touch of a button. Sollux had scoffed at Equius’ idea when he first suggested it, but had taken the task on with his full interest when he found that fitting the simple walkie-talkie software into the black plastic loop that would form the collar was more difficult than it seemed. Also, as Equius reminded him, the codes would need to be altered to make their communications private to the rebellious forces, a duty that Sollux was some kind of happy to take on, and the task he was working on whilst Jade was visiting.

Tavros, Kanaya, Eridan and Gamzee were focusing on the design aspects of everything, the organising and the layouts. Strategies were being drawn up by Kanaya, pulled from the minds of the usually-dopey Gamzee and apparently weak Tavros, and they were becoming more and more elaborate as time passed. So far, the group had organised around four strategies, with Eridan’s military advice taking down the other suggestions. They also had thirteen entry plans for the Peacecorps building waiting to be assessed, and a good five designs for non-lethal weapons drawn up and requiring critique from Karkat, who, at that precise moment, was asleep.

Aranea and Meenah were flitting from group to group, helping where they could. Aranea’s advice was particularly welcomed by the Strategy Team, whereas Meenah preferred the childish tediousness of the Weapons Team, who, for the time being, had renamed themselves to the Powder Team.

 

“John!” Vriska carefully made her way into the kitchen, grateful for the closed curtains in every room. The bluewing in question turned to beam at her as she entered, stuffing another brown bag full of sandwiches. As he set the bag down, Vriska passed him one of the collars the Tech Team had been working on and helped him to put it on. “Whoa, you finished them!” was John’s immediate reaction.  
“Yep, Equius has been working for hours trying to fix the layout, but he finally got it.” Vriska grinned at him, handing a collar to Dave as she talked, “And lucky for you, we get to test it. Dave, can you check it from outside? I’ll head back to our room.” And she was gone again, leaving Dave to sigh as he obeyed, unlocking the door and escaping up into the air a good fifty feet before the collar crackled into life.  
“Do you read me? Press the button on the side to transmit.” The line crackled at first but after a few moments, Vriska’s voice was crystal clear.  
“Loud and clear, Colenel!”  John was the first to respond, with Dave close behind,  
“Crystal,” he confirmed, “I’m about fifty feet up.”  
“Exceptional.” Equius’ voice came as a surprise, “You can return the collars now.”

Vriska collected the black loops from John and Dave shortly after the latter re-entered the house and thanked them for their help, a smirk still plastered on her face. As she left, she kissed John on the cheek, then slipped out of the room with less than a chuckle to explain her behaviour.  
Dave promptly wiped the blue lip marks from John’s cheek.

 

“Communicollar is go.” Vriska handed the neckwear to Equius and sat back beside Sollux, inspecting his code. She read the section he was furiously typing, then again for good measure. “You missed a line,” she pointed out, “There.”  
The irritable yellowblood glared at her through his bicoloured glasses, but checked his code anyhow. He was surprised to discover that Vriska was correct; he had indeed missed a very important line of code. Still, all Vriska got in return was a huff of air that sounded slightly less pessimistic than usual and the sound of more furious typing as he rectified his mistake.

 

The tension in the household built for around a week, with John and Dave making more packed lunches than they’d ever seen, and the Weapons Team clearing out the powder stores before moving onto other weapons.  
Karkat slept for the most part of the day, but spent his nights watching the sky from a crack in the curtains in the main room, a small fire that never burned out kept with him, a gift from Dave that allowed the Alternian to heat his coffee and tea when it grew cold.  
The residents watched their friends flit back and forth from the house, looking more and more tired with each visit, each of them bringing news of half a dozen more recruits if they were lucky. Jane returned the least frequently of all of them, and neither John nor Dave was quite sure she was eating any of the lunches she took.

Finally, after a week of flitting and recruiting and lunches, Jane returned to the house, exhausted. She swept the lunches off of the sofa and promptly fell asleep.  
Over the course of the night- because the moon was already high in the sky when Jane had come home- the Angels returned. After Jane came Jake, then Roxy, Dirk, Rose and, finally, Jade.  
Karkat hugged Jade the moment she entered the room, and she passed out in his embrace. After a few moments of silent screaming at his partner suddenly going limp in his arms, Karkat asked directions to Jade’s room from John and carried the greenwing to bed.

 

After a solid two days of a ‘sleep, wake, eat, repeat’ routine, the Angels were sent out again, this time each bearing around thirty Communicollars, and wearing one each themselves. Karkat, John and Kanaya each had one as well, and sometimes John would hear his sister checking in on Karkat, and the Alternian’s fond reply.  
Rose never replied to her callings with more than a laugh or a single word, but it was enough to let the others know she was alive. For Kanaya, it was hard, it was something that the Alternian wasn’t used to with Rose, and caused her extreme concern that could only be allayed by Karkat.  
Overall, over the course of their friends’ absence, the Alternians began to work as a group as opposed to singular entities. Whenever Karkat or Kanaya was upset, Nepeta, Terezi and either Karkat or Kanaya (whichever one was not upset at the time) would comfort them. Equius tinkered with spare parts and built small robotic animals for each of the Alternians, with electrical activity wired and coded by Sollux. Aradia found that her talking would help soothe any of her friends that found themselves having a panic attack, and indeed they were becoming more common amongst Gamzee and Sollux in particular.  
It made John smile slightly to see them all working together, but once or twice Dave had caught him peering in through the crack in the door with tears in his eyes and known it was because the bluewing was lonely. Those were the times that Dave would dig out one of John’s old board games from his closet and summon Karkat and Kanaya to play with them, which usually ended with board pieces being thrown across the room at various heads, with laughter following it moments later.  
When the Angels came home for the night, they would sit with John and Dave and catch up, tell them how the movement was coming along, all the while every member of the rebellion put up a brave front, a fake smile.

 

“John Egbert, can you hear me?” Jane’s voice emanated from the Communicollars. John reached up and pressed his button,  
“Yes, I hear you Jane, what’s up?”  
“Give all the Alternians their collars.” Jane’s voice shook slightly, and Roxy decided she’d intervene as John fulfilled his duty,  
“Janey, calm down, it’s okay. What’s wrong?” Her sweet voice was relief to Jane’s ears after spending so long with rough whispers and fearful voices.  
“It’s time,” the head Peacekeeper proclaimed, raising her voice for all to hear, “Tomorrow is the day we rise, and we either fly, or we fall.” She proclaimed in a deadpan tone, her statement seemed unfinished, so John ended the statement for her; his voice was strong,  
“Tomorrow is the rise of the rebellion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, I'm so sorry! But I wanted to dedicate an entire chapter to the fight itself because of the various plot twists that it would be cruel to cliffhanger on, plus this way you get a lil more insight into the Alternians i guess? idk  
> anywho  
> my tumblr is mindlessIdeologist too! or at least my safe tumblr is my main blog isnt safe, but if you want to bug me into updates 'n stuff then thats the url you want!


	5. War

Crackling came brightly from the collars, and the call was heard across Skaia. There was a garbled mix of speech before Jane's voice cut through.  
"Unit leaders, check in." the command came.  
"Urban unit." Roxy reported back, a hand landing on John's shoulder as they both shook.  
"Beta unit." Meenah's grin could be heard in her tone, but her grip on Aranea tightened.  
"Alpha unit." Karkat's voice came gruffly, his confirmation as strong as he could be.  
"That's it. Be ready to deploy. You have an hour to say whatever you need to."

Jane's words hung all too heavily in the air. She never did seem to finish her statements, but this time, nobody had the heart to finish it for her.  
They all knew they might not come home, dead or alive.

John clung to Dave, they sat together, curled on the sofa and cursing the world for its cruelty. Their breathily whispered declarations of affection seemed out of place in the house so prepared for war, but neither felt the will to waste precious seconds by moving.

"Aren't you thcared?" Sollux asked Aradia as they laid together, fingers interlocked, staring at the star-painted ceiling above them.  
"I'm not afraid to die." Aradia answered carefully. Sollux's silence prompted her to finish, "But I am scared to-" her grip on his hand tightned slightly, her voice silenced by the possibility. Sollux felt a sort of sad smile cross his face and he closed his eyes behind his red-and-blue glasses, "Me too."

 

"You're being quiet." Aranea made her way to the rafters of the abandoned warehouse to sit with Meenah.  
"Am I?" the lack of a sarcastic or aggressive response frankly concerned Aranea. The ceruleanblood laid a hand over one of Meenah's, feeling the ex-heiress tense at her touch.  
"Say whatever you need to." Aranea frowned slightly as she quoted Jane's words.  
Meenah's breath shook with the effort of forcing the words out, "I love you."  
It wasn't that she didn't want to say them, or that she was afraid of the repercussions. She was afraid that the first time she said them would be the last time.  
Aranea smiled briefly, smoothly moving around Meenah and forcing her to shift her gaze from the floor to Aranea's face, and then she moved in to kiss her briefly.   
Stunned into silence, Meenah could do little more than reach out and pull Aranea closer, clinging to her for dear life as everything around them seemed to collapse in a cascade of reality.

They were going to war.

 

"Your hour is up." Jane turned her face to the purple-and-pink streaked sky, "Urban unit, are you ready?"  
A line of angels stood outside John's house, wings quivering as neighbours peered out their windows to see the children so terrified of something they couldn't see. "Ready."  
"Beta unit, are you ready?"  
A look was shot from an heiress cast aside, to a pirate of mind, and along the line of friends and enemies to reach bright red eyes at the end, "Ready."  
"Alpha unit, are you ready?"  
The Alternians stood in a huddle at the back door of John's house, hands linked in fear, steeling themselves for the rain of hell that would come down on them in a time too close to consider, "Ready."  
"Good luck. Urban unit, deploy."  
Air screeched as the seven angels took off together, splitting into two groups of four and three as they looped around the house.  
"Beta unit, deploy!"   
The doors of the warehouse exploded open with an almighty crash, and the older Alternians burst out in full force, rising into the sky with mutual screams of defiance.   
"Alpha unit, deploy!"  
In a chaotically organised line, Karkat led his friends out of the house, silent but for the heavy beats of their wings as they took to the sky behind the Urban unit.

Jane didn't miss the little details as the army eclipsed the dusk above the Peacecorps building. Tavros' face was scrunched with worry, and tears were blossoming in his eyes. Rose and Kanaya shared a laboured, broken gaze with one another as they flew into position. Dave swept into John for their first, and quite possibly last, kiss.   
She didn't miss the way Roxy's hand tightened into a fist around the empty air beside her, or the way that a half-formed farewell found itself choked from her own lips as she tried and failed to talk.  
Instead, she took her place in the ring of fighters, hoping with everything she had that others would come to their aid during the fight for equality.  
They had to get the Peacecorps attention.  
The idea came first from John, a rhythmic chant of, "Free Alternia."  
Dave, on one side of John, joined in, steadily raising the volume. Jade added her voice, then Karkat, Rose, Aradia, Roxy. Around the ring, Jane watched the chant bloom, rising in volume every second.  
Her own voice was the last to be added, and she joined with a scream, "Free Alternia! Free Alternia!"  
Below them, the city stopped and stared, watching.  
Some angels turned up their noses in disgust, but Jane was elated to find new voices joining their chorus, a haze of rainbow feathers rising up to fly beside them.

Finally, their targets emerged from the Peacecorps building; Four fully grown angels stormed their way into the rebellion, and Jane moved forward, silencing her army.  
"Jane Crocker, head Peacekeeper, Western sector." she introduced herself plainly, "Free Alternia."  
Taking her lead, Roxy flew forwards, "Roxy Lalonde, Peacekeeper, Southern sector." she hoped the shake in her voice wasn't audible, "Free Alternia."  
"Dirk Strider, Peacekeeper, Eastern sector. Free Alternia."  
"Jake English, Peacekeeper, Northern sector. Free Alternia."  
"Dave Strider," Dave began, "Peacekeeper, Central sector." He fixed the group of his Alternians in his gaze for a few seconds, steeling himself, "Free Alternia."

The few moments of silence that followed bore the distinct feeling of the calm before the storm. Then, the sky exploded with the Peacecorps angels, greyed out wings storming the air as they moved out sharply towards the four points of the compass. Their intimidating manoeuvre was lost on the rebelling army. The members at the points of the circle tipped their chins up in defiance, each adopting an aggressive pose.   
With their simple response, there was a flash of light all around, and the empty circle was suddenly full of white-winged, brainwashed pawns of the Peacecorps.

The war started with hand-to-hand combat.  
Jane smoothly ducked under a punch, and then flipped, kicking up at her aggressor's face. There was the sickening crunching sound that comes with bones splintering under force, and as the freshly murdered pawn fell, Jane stopped to whisper a quiet prayer under her breath.  
The moment of distraction was exploited by another pawn, who launched for the Head Peacekeeper. With a screech of terrified rage, Roxy plummeted directly onto the pawn in a flurry of magenta feathers and whirling fists.  
They scuffled for a few moments, mere metres below Jane, before there was a snapping sound and Roxy flew back up, the dead pawn falling heavily to thud onto the now-empty road below.  
Jane took a split second to grace her girlfriend with a brief kiss on the cheek, and then they both moved back to fighting.

Jade flipped backwards, careful aim allowing her to smash a kick straight into the eye of a pawn attacking a younger Angel with red wings and white-blonde hair. The stranger nodded their thanks mutely, spinning almost immediately to take down the dazed pawn. Jade grinned and turned, only to be immediately greeted by a pawn swinging for her. Not quite quick enough to dodge, she swing to the side, but the blow clipped the side of her head.  
Dazed, she began to fall- straight over the Void.

Karkat jerked upright, turning to spot Jade. Before he could dive, a violet flurry dove past him, cloak's clasp already open, allowing the offending garment to float gently downwards as it's owner screeched through the air, a backwards call of "I'll get her, keep fightin'" his only assurance.

Even through her daze, Jade knew she was in trouble. The emergency response system in her mind forced her wings to open uselessly, blazing her entire body with agony. Blurred vision saw a rapidly approaching shape, and Eridan dove for her, everything flattened against his body to move himself faster.   
The violetblood swept Jade up, only metres from the swirling, pearly cloud layer that covered the void. No being that had passed into the void had ever returned.

Jade, still dazed, cried into Eridan's shoulder as she shook violently from the shock setting in. The violetblood moved upward, back toward the clamour of the war, clinging to Jade as though she was the most precious thing he had ever carried.   
Because, in all honesty, she was.  
A valuable fighter and the prospect of a friend. They had their arguments- so many arguments, and there was that time that she threw out his gun. But in the space of less than thirty days, it seemed, they had grown together. She'd levelled him out a little, if you didn't count the fact that he beat the shit out of Sollux after she turned down his offer to teach her to shoot.  
There was more to that story, but nobody who was around to see it would talk about it. 

He had taught her that there are souls who are ruthless. She hadn't quite believed it before, but after hearing of the violetblood's angry, violent outburst over her simple rejection, she did. 

Eridan set Jade gently on a roof, waiting for her to recover. He contemplated leaving, but then realised that she would be an easy target, and accordingly set himself to defend her.

"Jane, pay attention dangnabbit!" Jake saved his friend from being knocked out of the sky by a pawn as he clobbered it on the head, movements clumsy. He was used to pistols over physical blows, the concept was rather unfamiliar to him.  
Jane gazed distractedly at the centre of the circle of fighters.   
The Peacecorps sat, contentedly, staring out at their pawns. And the realisation struck Jane like a hammer to the gut, she reeled backwards dully and her hand shot to her communicollar.  
"Everyone back away from the pawns now. Alternians, get behind one the Angels. Angels, do not touch them." Her hand fell away, but reconnected a second later, "And summon your weapons." 

The moment the words were out of her mouth, a bright flash emanated from the pawns. Each was equipped with its own weapon, guns, batons, swords. Everything was there, somewhere.  
Jane summoned her own weapon, a trident-like fork, and slashed at the closest pawn. It blocked her with its own weapon, a club, and her duel began.  
Roxy slung her rifle over her shoulder as she lashed out at the back of the pawn's head; she preferred to use her fists when it was close combat, and this little shit was screwing with her girlfriend. She wouldn't have that.

John's movements were graceful, Dave observed. It was almost as though his hammer was a part of him, the huge weight that should have thrown him was already easily incorporated into his strategy. The redwing turned, empty hands coming together, swinging air at the side of an attacking pawn.  
The blade that solidified bit into bone, slicing almost easily through the head and helmet of the pawn. Dave kicked at the corpse hanging from his sword, cursing the fact that he chose a longsword over a katana like his brother- sure, the longsword packed a lot of power, but its weight meant that cutting too far through flesh and bone was... pretty much impossible.  
Still, he reflected as the body dropped from the sky, it did a good job of killing things.  
John's hammer collided with a pawn's head with a sickening, satisfying crunch, sending the probably-dead creature hurling into another pawn a few metres away, earning the bluewing a high five.

Bullets tore into Gamzee's shoulder and he bit back a cry as he launched forward, club making contact with skull and sending the pawn spinning into Tavros, who stabbed it after a moment's hesitation. Gamzee silently sympathised; Tavros hated causing harm to any living creature. That being said, the smaller troll shook himself, the pawns weren't really alive, as far as anyone was aware. They were simply reanimated fragments of robots and flesh, fused into a heartless, mindless cyborg.

An unfamiliar hand splayed across the bullet wounds, staining pale skin a deep purple and making Gamzee hiss in pain. The stranger, a tall woman who looked painfully similar to Roxy, smiled slightly. She pulled back her hand and allowed the three or four bullets to fall into the void below. She disappeared quickly, moving away to invisibly take out a pawn above Roxy, leaving Gamzee to curse at the empty space she had occupied until-  
"Gamzee, y-your shoulder!" Tavros pointed out as he knocked out another pawn.   
The purpleblood apprehensively glanced at his shoulder, expecting a mangled patch of skin and bone.   
Except there was little more than a dark bruise covering the area he'd been shot.  
He'd definitely been shot, though- there were bullet holes torn through his clothes- but there were no wounds.  
It took a moment for it to hit home that the Roxy-esque angel had healed him.  
and as that thought struck him, he saw the saviour in question shot out of the sky to hit the roofs below.   
And he clubbed the pawn that did it to death.

"Shit, Dave, we can't win this!" John barked over his shoulder as he was forced back-to-back with the older angel once again, or rather head-to-back. The top of John's head rested in the space between Dave's wings.  
"We have to try." Dave's growl was almost lost in the clang of metal that came from his sword hitting a pawn's. With a few smart moves, Dave stabbed his sword hard into the area where a normal heart would be, hearing the screech of metal on metal, and the pawn went limp. Almost immediately, Dave swung his sword, with the weight of the impaled pawn, to knock another out of the air. The sword and its corpse flew out of his hand, but before the blade could go far, he summoned it again, and it materialized in his hand completely free of white-clad bodies.

"Jane, can we do this?" Roxy's gaze turned to the Head Peacekeeper, her bright eyes seemed too innocent for the bloodstained face they occupied. Jane looked around her, observing momentarily the expanse of space that was filled with so many pawns and a dwindling amount of fighters. It hit her then, that this war was unwinnable. She turned back to her girlfriend, seeing the terror contained within hope, and simply answered, "Yes."

Fighter after fighter was struck down. Various civilians went first, unarmed and unprepared. Then came the original army's casualties.  
Vriska spun toward the ground below, her entire left side drenched in blood.   
Kanaya was pretty sure her arm was missing as she shouted at Jade to catch her.  
Feferi was impaled through the stomach, and the gaping hole that remained allowed Eridan to see the top of the building before it was covered by fuchsia blood mingling with violet tears. His hands clasped at her blood-soaked shirt for only a few seconds before he shot into the air, brutally swinging at any pawn that dared come close enough. A one-soul killing machine, he cut through the crowd of pawns, showering himself in crimson, until a lucky shot tore through his torso, leaving him to fall in two halves into the void below.

Karkat watched, stunned, from above as his allies were cut down. He froze up, unable to think, until his name was screeched and a flurry of green consumed his vision.  
The few seconds that followed seemed to take a decade to pass.  
Jade grabbed Karkat's shoulders, swinging him around. For a split-second, they faced each-other in mid-air.   
And then the prongs appeared through Jade's chest.   
Three perfectly centred wounds, created by shiny red spikes.   
The pawn pulled back and was shot out of the air by a crack shot from Jake.   
"No." the word dropped from Karkat quietly, then was repeated much louder as Jade began to fall. "Jade, fuck no!"  
The call was heard by John, who immediately turned his attention to the duo a few metres up- and instantly wished he hadn't.   
"Jade!" His voice broke as he shot toward her limp body, "No! Jade, no, not Jade!" he grasped at his twin sister's shirt, unconscious tears streaming as he let out an animal-like howl of pain. A part of him had died with her, and he felt the space it had occupied throb with pain.  
Karkat and John's roars of anguish echoed across the sky, and,gradually, all of the fighting began to slow and stop. 

The heads of the Peacecorps rose into the sky, removing all traces of the pawns with a simple movement of their wrists.  
The oldest moved forward to speak, voice magnified, "You have suffered much loss." he rumbled, "Your cause has not escaped our attention. The seperation between Angels and Demons is old, and deserves the right to be removed in the wake of your bloodshed. However," the word struck hard to those still living, "That is an impossible hope. You have caused much destruction to our city, and have broken many, many laws. You will be punished accordingly."  
A second Peacecorp spoke, female this time, "The punishment for such discord will be severe. It pains us all to see that your hearts are so trained to fight for a good cause," she hesitated, sighing fractionally, then continued, "and know that the consequence you must face is so final."   
A third stepped forward to continue, "Your body count is high, your friends and allies have died. As such, your punishment will not be obliteration. You will not be killed." He gazed around the group of broken, bloodstained faces, "But you also can not be allowed to continue your lives freely."  
The final Peacecorp raised her voice, "The punishment for all still living, all that have fought, is..." the catch in her voice was evident, "the Fall. You will all be Felled at sunrise. Until then, you must be escorted by our pawns to ensure that you do not cause any further damage." at her word, a pawn appeared at the side of each of the living. "You have until sunrise to say your goodbyes."  
And they were gone.

A stunned, horrified silence came over them. The remainders of the army unconsciously drew in closer, sinking until they hit the road of the city below, and then sinking a bit lower. Most fell to their knees, others curled on the ground. Very few actually cried, too paralysed with shock to function past breathing.  
Karkat and John knelt next to Jade's body, crying silently. Behind Karkat, Terezi stood stoically, mimicking Dave's posture from behind John. Neither shed a tear, but their hands clasped silently above their friends, the dread within them silencing their voices and muting their minds.

Sollux and Aradia flew slowly around the city, fingers entwined. "There." Aradia smiled with the word, and Sollux found himself wondering how she could be so happy. All of the time.  
They sunk down to the rooftop where Feferi's body laid, the yellowblood collapsing beside her silently. He was numb as he worked his hand under her shoulder, lifting her and covering himself in her fuchsia blood as he did so. Aradia copied him on Feferi's other side, and they lifted her limp form into the air. "To the void?" Aradia questioned.  
"Yeth."

The duo weren't the only ones to have the idea, at the edge of the cloud layer, they found John and Karkat bearing Jade's body, and Kanaya and Rose bearing Vriska's.  
They were joined a few moments later by Gamzee holding the stranger that had healed him, and Nepeta holding Tavros with Equius' aid.   
Various other strangers came forth, holding bodies of friends and family. Many had lost sisters, brothers, and Aradia even saw one young angel holding their mother's limp form, face scrunched in a silent scream.  
A silent signal went out, and each of the dead was released over the void, and the living watched as they were consumed by the pearly layer below.

 

Dawn rose on numb souls, and their pawns teleported them to a plateau of cloud. None of them recognised the area.  
"I'm scared." the words brushed from Jane and they seemed so ordinary that their meaning was almost lost on her friends. Dirk reached out toward her, momentarily touching her on the shoulder. The simple gesture conveyed what he couldn't- or wouldn't- say. He understood, he felt the same.   
"It's okay Janey, it'll all be over soon." Roxy reassured her in the best way she knew. She refused to lie.  
"Come on mate, chin up. We made a difference." Jake chipped in from Dirk's other side, and the tall blonde swapped places with him to allow Jane to receive his rather powerful hug. She would have liked to have said he almost bowled her over, but she was too frozen to move, let alone fall. Roxy joined the group throng and Dirk rolled his eyes, laying a hand once again on Jane's shoulder. "Stalling isn't going to reduce the apprehension. I know it's scary," he softened his tone, "but drawing it out will make it feel worse."  
Jane smiled, Dirk always had been the one for blunt, sometimes bad advice. She drew in a deep breath and gently shook her friends off of her, "You're right. There's no way out of this."

They were placed into a circle, and for a brief time, John was sure that each of them was going to be shot. It felt like a shooting range, and that was almost exactly what it was.   
He reached out, catching Dave's hand, letting his fingers twine with Dave's. It was ironic the way the trait spread like the chant had, in the same order. Minus Jade.  
Dave grasped Rose's hand tightly, and Rose took Roxy's. John and Karkat linked hands, then Aradia, then Sollux.  
The circle was a lot smaller than it had been originally, with one Angel and nine Alternians down.  
The shock had finally worn off enough to allow them to cry, and cry they did. Rufioh and Porrim clung to Meulin as she doubled over with silent tears. The empty lack of a soul between Horuss and Cronus was the reason why.  
Meenah stood tall and straight, her wrist clasped in Cronus' grip and vice-versa. Dirk held her in a lose grip on her other side. She deliberately avoided opening her eyes, unwilling to see a world without Aranea in it.  
Kankri stared pointedly forwards, unable to comprehend what had happened, he babbled under his breath.   
Rufioh and Gamzee were certain that they heard Latula's name more than once.

"It is time," the voice of a female Peacecorp reached them as she materialised in the centre, "I am sorry. We will begin with Meenah Peixes." the fuchsiablood stepped forward, her eyes still closed, awaiting her fate. Her wings were disabled with a simple binding charm, and then the cloud below her seemed to swirl, creating a hole beneath the place she stood.   
Meenah fell through, turning to dive into the void head first. The feeling of the pearlescent cloud nipping at her skin was a relief, and her consciousness being blown out like a flame was a gift.  
In turn, each of the members was Felled. From Meenah to Cronus to Horuss, around through Karkat, until finally she reached Dirk.   
The orangewing saluted as he fell, sighing as his body penetrated the cloud layer below.

And they existed no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See that little /? meaning "incomplete"?  
> That's important
> 
> i'M SO SORRY OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY JADE I LOVE YOU
> 
> Also if you didn't expect Aranea's death Idk what to tell you  
> She'd been slashed to shreds by one Dirk Strider how can you fight like that


	6. Reincarnation?

John Egbert sat up, yawning in protest at the sudden lights. Jane grinned at him from the doorway, “Come on John. It’s going to be a very long day.”

“I had a weird dream.” Muttered John as he walked down the street beside Jane, and she looked at him questioningly, urging him to continue even as the school building inched into sight on the horizon. “I dreamt that we were angels. And there were demons.”  
“Oh,” Jane interrupted slightly, “I’ve had that one before! There’s the one with blonde hair, right? And we fight a war, and everyone dies.”  
“Yeah, that’s it!” John stared at his sister, who chuckled.  
“We’ve had the same dream, that’s odd.” She shrugged it off as John showed the smallest amount of fear. “Relax,” she soothed, “It’s just a dumb dream. Focus on school. Besides,” John perked up visibly as he realised what she was going to say, “We’ll get to see Jade and Jake again!” Jane smiled brightly at John at the idea of seeing his cousin and old friend.

  
Jane and John split up the second they walked into the lobby of the school, with Jane being sent in one direction and John in the other.  
John wandered quietly down the hallway towards the Phys Ed department, his footsteps resounding hollowly in the quiet hallway. Only halfway down, he heard the dull sounds of a scuffle, and once it was accompanied by yells of pain, he quickened his step.

“Get off!” The snarl came from a blond surrounded by jeering teens that John guessed to be around his age. John hurried forwards, his bag thudding to the floor as he stepped into the circle to defend the stranger. The blows previously striking the blonde now fell on John, making the dark-haired teen flail as he remembered he didn’t know how to fight. The only thing he could do was defend the stranger by protecting him with his own body. A few choice curses and some shouting later, the stranger was back up on his feet, with his back to John, as they defended against the crowd that just seemed to keep going and growing.  
After what seemed like decades, which was really about thirty seconds, shouting came from both ends of the corridor and the stranger that John had protected visibly brightened.  
The “Crowd” of about seven people dispersed, trying to butt past the friendly forces advancing from both sides of the corridor. John spotted a couple of familiar faces in the crowd, “Jade! Jake!”  
“Hi John!” Jade greeted brightly as she punched one of the assailants in the gut, John noted that, for Jade, it was a gentle punch.  
“Hello, chum!” Jake mirrored Jade on the other side, strikes clumsy from lack of practice with physical violence. John knew he preferred guns.  
“Oh, John, watch out.” An unfamiliar voice warned, but not soon enough as a blunt force struck him, sending his glasses flying. The voice’s owner, a tall blonde with a pink headband, brandished knitting needles towards the brute, sending him fleeing down the hallway. He was almost stopped by a late arrival to the group, but after a dismissive hand wave and a call of “Let him go.” From the needle-brandishing ringleader, he was allowed to scurry away.  
John dropped beside the strange blond that he had defended, handing a pair of cracked, pointy shades to him. “You okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Before he could place his shades on his face, another member sat beside him.  
“Dave, let me look at that face.”  
“Rose I’m fine, stop worrying.” He flapped at her. Well, that saved John from asking for their names.  
Rose wouldn’t take no for an answer, and after bartering with Dave for a while, she produced a packet of antiseptic wipes and began dabbing at Dave’s lip, which was burst on the right. He also sported a few extra cuts on various places across his face.  
Another blond handed John his glasses back, and he was dismayed to find one of the lenses had a crack in the corner of the thick lenses. “Must have been one hell of a punch.” He joked it off.  
“Shit dude, I’m so sorry- ow.” Dave’s attention was distracted by the antiseptic brushing across ruffled flesh.  
“It’s okay.” John beamed back, internally wincing at the shit that he was going to get from his dad. And his sister.  
Jake clapped a hand on John’s shoulder, grinning, “Well, this is a marvellous introduction to our friends here! Blimey, John, you know how to make an entrance!”  
“I was just walking down the hall.” John defended.  
“Corridor.” Jade corrected from John’s other side. “We’re in England, John, use the right word!”  
“You know Dave and Rose,” Jake began the introductions as he walked with John and Jade at the back of the party, heading towards the main lobby, “That’s Dirk, Dave’s older brother.” He indicated the blond that had handed John his glasses, “That’s Eridan,” a blonde-haired guy with a dyed violet streak, “and Karkat,” a small, pale teen with white hair.  
“There’s a lot of you.” Commented John, slyly digging Jake in the ribs, “Didn’t expect you to have so many friends!”  
“There are more.” Jake responded brightly, missing John’s tone. “We have eighteen in our current group…” Jake babbled on about older siblings and clubs and John pretended he was listening as he checked out the other members of the crowd. Dave and Rose bickered at the front, with Dave holding a wipe to his lip. Dirk smirked at him from behind, casting glances toward Jake every now and then, and just generally looking edgy. Karkat, the short guy who looked like he was probably an albino, was being swept into a walking hug by Eridan, who, John was almost certain, was almost double Karkat’s height.  
Even as they walked, John found his gaze wandering idly back to Dave every now and then, and he became almost-certain that Dave was looking at him, too. Eventually, when John was sure Dave had caught his eye again, he smiled as brightly as he could without drawing Jake’s attention.  
Dave smirked in return.

They re-entered the lobby as Jane did, split into two groups of Jade, Jake and John, and the others that had rescued John in the hallway. Jane was accompanied by a blonde girl that John immediately pegged as Rose’s sister.  
Jane immediately made a beeline for John, taking him by the shoulders, “What did you do? You have a cut.”  
“He does?” Rose broke away from Roxy mid-sentence, sliding over to dab at the mark with an antiseptic wipe.  
“Who are you?” Jane frowned slightly at the interrupting blonde. Rose levelled her with a cool look,  
“Rose Lalonde, I’m Roxy’s younger sister.” The statement left Jane to mumble a small apology for being rude. Rose smiled slightly, her black-painted lips curling upwards, “It’s alright.”

“Give me your timetable.” Jake edged in to John, who handed him the paper square.  
“Roxy and I are going to head to tutor.” Jane interrupted momentarily, before waving at John and walking away alongside Roxy.  
"Timetables." Jake commanded the younger members of the group as he, Jade, and John rejoined.  
"You have maths first period with Karkat." Jake indicated the first square on Monday, "And you're in his tutor." John brightened,  
"So I just have to follow him?"  
"Indeed! You don't share second period with any of our friends here, though. You're in the room next to Karkat, so I'll ask him to walk you."  
After a brief argument in which Jake was forced to offer extra cake to Karkat at lunch, the albino grudgingly agreed to show John to his history classroom.

After Jake had gone through John's timetable with him, John found that he shared quite a few of his lessons with friends. Fourth and sixth period he shared with someone by the name of Vriska, and fifth he shared with Dave.

"Alright, fuckwit." Karkat spat as way of greeting as John was dropped off outside his tutor room. John glared straight back, getting the distinct feeling that Karkat hated him.  
Well, the feeling was mutual.  
"Hi Karkat." someone said from behind John, shoving him out of the way slightly so that they could get a better view of the short, angry kid. Karkat looked up at her, a slight sneer gracing his face, and John had to try not to laugh.  
The intruder, an unnaturally tall girl with what John assumed to be bleach blonde hair, grinned down at Karkat, pushing her glasses a little further onto her face.  
"Vriska." the name tumbled out of John's mouth before he'd realised it, and the girl in question turned to him, frowning slightly.  
"Who the hell are you, and how do you know my name?"  
"That's John." Karkat butted in before John could speak. Not that he could speak, of course, he was frozen, staring at Vriska. "It's his first day."  
"That still doesn't answer my second question." her tone was dangerously sing-song, "How do you know my name?"  
"I- I don't know." How could John say he'd dreamt about her just the night before? Vriska frowned at him a little, wracking her memory for any sign of this strange student. Her eyes widened fractionally as a faint memory of blue lipstick marks on his cheek occurred to her. "John... Egbert?"  
There was an uncomfortable silence in which John and Vriska stared at each other, a slow grin spread across John's face, although he didn't quite know why he had the urge to be thrilled that she was alive. But that was okay, because Vriska didn't know why there was the fewest of tears welling in her eyes. An inadvertent laugh bubbled from John's throat as Vriska pulled him into a hug, and he returned the hug with great gutso. Karkat frowned at them slightly, but he remembered that his first meeting with Terezi had gone in a very similar direction, and so didn't intrude.

Vriska made a point to watch protectively over John whenever she was around. Her 'popular' status and her reputation as a bully came in helpful, she realised, as she growled warningly at someone who was pointing and snickering.

Karkat grudgingly led John to maths, and even more grudgingly allowing John to sit on the side of him that was not taken up by 130 pounds of lanky purple companion.  
Gamzee smiled at John as he sat down, "Hey motherfucker."  
"Hi?" John refused to admit that he was just a little bit scared.  
"What are you all up and doing here?"  
"Me and my sister just moved from America."  
"Sounds bitchtits, motherfucker, where did you move from?"  
"Washington." before the conversation could progress any further, John's maths teacher arrived and set them all to work on stupid algebraic trigonometry things that none of them could get a grip on.  
"Who's he?" John breathed to Karkat as he scribbled down an answer.  
"Gamzee." Karkat answered shortly. John waited for him to elaborate, and Karkat sighed, "My best friend. Get on with your work shithead."  
John complied, but couldn't resist sneaking a glimpse over at Karkat and Gamzee. He watched as Karkat patiently patted the irritated student, slowly explaining what he had to do. John felt a burn in his throat that tasted suspiciously like jealousy. He wished that he had a friend like Karkat, but all he seemed to do was annoy people with dumb pranks and make enemies every time he went to a new school.

"So is it English next?" John asked as Karkat shoved his way upstairs, trailing John behind him.  
"Yeah, you're with Kanaya and Terezi."  
"Who?"  
"Friends." Karkat cast a momentary glance over his shoulder with a brief smile that shocked John, "They'll look after you."  
"Thanks, Karkat."

"Uh, hi." John's first greeting came from a small, tanned boy with a Mohawk. "I'm Tavros, I see you know, um, Karkat." Tavros fiddled distractedly with his tie. Before John could answer, an arm dropped carefully around Tavros' shoulders, it's owner was a girl of average height with almost-black hair. Her jade green eyes shone slightly as she eyed John. Recognition flickered on her face, "Oh, You're John! I'm Kanaya, Rose Mentioned A New Friend." She emphasised the start of each word, John considered the fact that Rose had been talking about him. "That's me."

"Tavros, John, John, Tavros." a new voice introduced and a girl with red glasses grinned idly at John as she arrived.  
"And This Is Terezi." Kanaya finished briefly as she ushered Tavros into line, "You'll Most Likely Be Sitting On Our Table."

Kanaya was correct, and by the end of the lesson, John swore Terezi had tried to kill him, and Tavros was loudly arguing with him regarding Lord of the Rings.  
"Have you even read the, uh, books?"  
"No, but I've seen the films!"  
Tav clouted him over the head with his copy of The Two Towers.

Break came without too many more arguments; John snickered quietly at Tavros, who glared back, and Terezi grinned brightly through it all whilst Kanaya buried her face in her hands.

"Follow Me." Kanaya sighed at John as he looked lost. John obeyed, and she led him outside to sit on the wooden flowerbed walls with the others. Dave sat next to him, and without so much as a greeting began pointing out the people that John didn't know, "Equius is the big muscle beast over there, cat girl hanging off of him is Nepeta. Feferi is the one that Eridan looks like he wants to make out with-" Dave stopped to eat a bite of his sandwich, "Sollux is the one with red and blue glasses, an' Aradia is the one in red hugging him."  
"And that's your entire group?"  
"Well, until the 6th formers are released. Then we get the assholes' older siblings." As if on cue, there was loud knocking on the art department windows. Nepeta waved passionately at an older student, then signed rapidly at her.  
"Meulin Leijon," Dave mumbled in John's ear, making him jump slightly, "She's deaf."  
Nepeta finished her conversation and turned back to the group, "Meulin says they have syrup sponge cake for lunch today, and to get there early because she made sure they loaded it with extra syrup."  
John heard Jake's groan from the other end of the flower bed.

"I have P.E whilst everyone else has ICT." Dave complained to John under his breath, "I tried to skip it all together this year to focus on the arts but-" he shrugged as he unlocked his locker, "No go."  
"I switched out one P.E for music so I can try to do the GCSE." John grinned in reply.  
Dave tried to wrestle the bag out of the small locker, and John grinned slightly at the sight as an idea for a great prank came to him. "Here, let me."  
After a bit of fiddling, and with the bag removed, the water bottle was set up and ready to go. John held the door shut with his foot whilst Dave locked it.  
Perfect.  
"Meet me here after fourth period." Dave didn't wait for an argument, instead he headed off towards the P.E department with a backwards wave, leaving John to scrabble back outside just in time to meet his group of friends heading off to next lesson.

"You have ICT with me." Rose took John by the elbow and steered him away from the main stairs. "Sollux, Equius and Nepeta are in our class too, so you can become properly acquainted."  
The blonde led John up the back stairs, which were considerably quieter and easier to manoeuvre, and John gave her a bright grin. "You really know this place!"  
"I've only been here a year." Rose smiled serenely back at him, exacting a gasp of awe.

"Most people don't like me and the others." Rose explained as John sat next to her, "And as such, nobody sits with us."  
"I'm Nepeta!" the small cat-like girl greeted John, smiling at him brightly. John noted her long sleeves that she had to pull up to type. She logged in and then spun on her chair for a few seconds, talking as she did so, "Equius here is my best friend! He's great with robots." She watched as Equius tried and failed to get his password right, "But not so much with text and coding."  
"That'th my job." Sollux waved from the end of the row. "He buildth, Roxy and I code."  
"I would appreciate it if you would not associate yourself with me." Equius didn't look up from his screen. Nepeta leaned across to whisper in John's ear, "Excuse him, he's always been taught that he's better than others. Born into privilege." she sat back and shrugged, "Sollux isn't so lucky."  
"He seems a bit mean." John commented quietly. Nepeta grinned at him, and in the corner of his eye he spotted the subtle upward curve of Rose's lips.  
"He's not so bad. He says he cares, but he doesn't." She turned to wrap her arms around Equius' shoulders. "He's a big softy!" Equius shifted his arm to absent-mindedly pat Nepeta on the shoulder. John assumed it was a regular occurrence.  
"John, you may want to log in." Rose interrupted, causing John to turn back to his computer and quickly type in his details.  
The lesson consisted of piecing together a virtual computer, which John initially struggled with until Equius switched places with Nepeta and sat stoically until John was so red in the face, he looked like a cherry. Equius coughed quietly and tilted his screen towards John, allowing the new student to copy the position. Huh, maybe Nepeta was right. "Thanks."  
"Don't mention it."

"You're with me." Sollux didn't bother with formality as he waved an awkward farewell to Equius over his shoulder. He shoved a hand into John's back and pushed him ahead, forcing him through the crowds of younger children and down the stairs to their physics classroom.  
"You thould know people in thith clath." Sollux abandoned John at the door to their classroom, quietly hurrying over to the next door along to talk to a girl in red. John vaguely remembered that her name was Aradia.  
"Jo-ohn!" The sing-song voice was music to his ears and he turned to Vriska with a bright grin. Kanaya was with her, trapped by an arm wrapped around her shoulders, but she didn't look overly uncomfortable. "Hi Vriska, Kanaya." he greeted the duo cheerfully.  
"Hello John." Kanaya replied half-heartedly. John's grin slipped slightly, but he kept it attached to his face for Vriska's benefit.  
Before Vriska herself had a chance to reply or comment, their teacher appeared at the door and ushered them in to class.

The Physics lesson consisted of taking notes of formulas and notes being passed between John and Kanaya. Vriska sat on the other side of the room, and looked grumpy about it.

are you okay?  
I Am Fine John Dont Worry  
are you sure? you don't look yourself.  
Is That Supposed To Be An Insult Because It Is Not Working  
no! i'm actually worried. what's wrong?

This elicited a sigh from Kanaya,

I Have Just Come To Terms With The Fact That Serket Is Perhaps Not The Ideal Partner For Me  
oh. oh! you had a crush on vriska?  
Yes John  
Excellent Deductive Skills  
i don't know if you've noticed but i'm not the most perceptive person! jeez.  
I Am Sorry  
it's okay, don't worry.

Hidden by the desk, John carefully reached out and laid a hand on Kanaya's arm, offering some small comfort in his warmth.  
She smiled at him gratefully and continued with her work.

"Egbert!" Dave waved at him as he arrived.  
"Late." John commented, standing back so that Dave could get to his locker.  
"Hey, shut up, that was a bad lesson." Dave slid his P.E bag off of his shoulders and bent down to unlock his locker.  
Just in time, John remembered his prank, and quickly ducked behind the now-open door as the bottle within sprayed its contents over Dave's front.  
John snickered as Dave gasped his surprise, dripping wet. After only a second of shocked reaction, he reassembled his façade and continued with his task as though there wasn't a steady stream of water running down his face.  
Once his bag was safely in his locker, and said locker was secure, Dave turned to John, still dripping slightly.  
"Egbert."  
"Strider." John tried so hard to keep a straight face, but failed badly. As he raised a hand to snicker into, Dave stepped forward and batted his wrist out of the way.  
"Revenge is sweet, bro." Dave muttered as he wrapped his arms around John, pressing his soaked upper body to John's. John dropped his chin against Dave's shoulder in resignation, "Yeah, alright."

  
John waved at Jane as he sat at the table across from her. Dave sat on one side of him, Jade on the other, and for a few minutes there was silence as they ate.  
"How's your day gone so far?" Jane asked John quietly once a gentle buzz rose from their group, eyeing the very wet Dave.  
"Great." John grinned at his older sister, gaze drifting to the symbol on her shirt.  
Both he and Jane had shirts with similar symbols. John's, he was proud to say, was a cheap knockoff of the Ghostbusters Ghost Slime, whereas Jane would argue that hers was better, being from Problem Sleuth. It was only after they both wore the shirts on the same day that they realised that they looked rather similar, and whilst John was horrified at first, he very quickly warmed to the idea that he would always have that memory of his older sister.  
Jane tilted her head at him, slightly concerned at his lack of response, but he brightened quickly with a noise of confusion and she exhaled in relief before repeating what she'd said.

"What do you have next?" Dave looked over John's shoulder at his timetable.  
"Photography in A44." John replied, smiling at Dave's curiosity.  
"Shit Egbert, you're in my class."  
"You do photography?"  
"Walk and talk, hell yeah I do photography. Shit's fuckin' great."  
"What are you focusing on at the moment?" John produced his camera from his bag, flicking through photos.  
"It's mainly free choice," Dave took the camera from John and continued his flicking, "I'm working on surreal suspension but I'm trying to not use Photoshop."  
"Do you have any models?"  
"I mainly ask Rose. Sometimes Rox and Dirk will help, but Rose is the best." Dave handed the camera back, "You don't have any models though, do you?"  
"No." John coloured as he remembered the various snaps he'd tried to get of himself in a tree.  
"Now you do." Dave gave him a brief smirk and received a cheerful smile in response.  
"Thanks, Dave!"  
"It's all cool."

"Dave, these are amazing!" John was basically sitting on Dave's lap as they squished together in their tiny space.  
"I have darkrooms to do. D'you wanna come?"  
"Hell yes!"  
Dave led John into the dark room and rifled in the cupboards for a moment. He extracted his equipment and told John to turn off the light, and then the blue-eyed teen watched as his friend moved gracefully around the dark room, illuminated only by a dim red light. He heard the slosh of chemicals and water, and paid careful attention as Dave extracted the first photo. For once, the youngest Strider had actually removed his shades, and was working nimbly. John felt the breath drawn out of him as Dave was silhouetted by the red light; unobscured, his features appeared angelic, but in a masculine fashion. Dave's mouth was drawn into a set line of concentration, but in the split-second that Dave was turned to him, John saw the pride in his eyes. He loved his photography work, and for good reason.  
"John?" Dave's voice stunned him out of his stupor, "Lights?"  
The lights flickered on and Dave replaced his shades almost immediately, wincing with the introduction. "Sensitivity." he explained to John, who nodded in response.

Dave walked John to Biology. John insisted that there was no need, since Sollux had shown him the room earlier in the day, but Dave insisted, staying close to John for the duration of their walk. They were silent, but not in an awkward way. It was a comfortable silence that let John know that Dave was more than happy to have him there. Still, John guessed, it was uncharacteristic of Dave to be quiet for so long.  
He would have to bring it up with Rose.

He knew that she would have her phone close to her, Kanaya informed him of this almost as soon as he mentioned "talking to Rose" and as a result, he quickly tapped at his phone, hidden by the table.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 15:03 --  
EB: rose are you there?  
TT: Of course, I assume Kanaya gave you my chumhandle?  
EB: duh!  
TT: What do you need, John? You wouldn't be messaging me if it wasn't important.  
TT: Does this concern my brother?  
EB: dave is your brother?  
TT: I'll explain everything later, but yes.  
EB: oh okay. so, dave walked me up to biology.  
TT: Uncharacteristic.  
TT: Dave is an ass.  
EB: but he wasn't talking at all. it wasn't an awkward silence though.  
TT: Sounds serious. I think he may be ill.  
EB: rose!  
TT: I'll talk to him, John, don't worry.  
EB: thanks rose!  
\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 15:08 --

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 15:09 --  
EB: oh rose by the way, what's dave's pesterchum?  
TT: turntechGodhead  
EB: thanks again!  
\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 15:09 --

John exhaled as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked up to find Kanaya writing something briefly in his book. She gave him a sideways look, finished the word, and went back to her own page as John whispered his thanks.  
He shot some more messages between himself and Rose, stopping only as the class began to pack up.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 15:25 --  
EB: jane, i'm walking home with dave and rose.  
GG: Okay, I'll meet you at home.  
GG: Have fun! :B  
\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 15:26 --

John met Dave and Rose at the gates just after half past.  
"You're quick."  
"Out early." Dave shrugged his response as they set off, with Rose on one side of John, and Dave on the other. John expected Dave to continue his theme of silence, but was surprised to find that he rapped most of the way home, with Rose patching in sometimes on the other side. John just snickered quietly into his hand until Dave busted out the most ridiculous lines he had ever heard. Rose and John clung to one another as Dave coloured brightly, clapping his hands over his mouth.  
"Oh, Rose, you said you were going to explain the whole brother thing." John remembered as their neighbourhood came into sight.  
"Right, well," Rose inhaled brightly as she prepared to begin, "Roxy and I are not biologically related to Dave. Roxy is my older sister. Dirk is Dave's older brother. Roxy and I moved here from New York with Mom when I was young, and into a house in the south. Dave's father, Broderick, was a good friend of Mom's, so when he called her and told her that he had to disappear, but he needed someone to look after the boys..." Rose trailed off with a shrug. "Mom moved us up here, lived with us until Roxy turned 18 last December, and then left. She's still in contact, though."  
"Roxy 'n Rose are basically both sisters and mothers." Dave let out with a smirk. Rose jabbed him and John snickered as he punched him on the arm, gently.  
"So where do you live?" John smiled brightly as they approached the road he had to turn down.  
"Windrigg close." Rose answered.  
"Hey," John seemed startled, "Me too!"  
"Maybe we're neighbours." Dave chipped in sarcastically.  
"Yeah, sure." John rolled his eyes.

Dave doubled over laughing, imitating John from a few minutes beforehand, "'Yeah, sure.' John you- You're- I-" He gave up trying to talk and allowed Rose to shake her head in shame as she pulled him inside and bid John farewell from the house next door.  
God damn Strilondes.

John took a moment to breathe in the warm summer air. He took another to think of all his new friends, from Vriska and Karkat to Rose and Dave. They seemed... familiar. He knew he'd seen Rose somewhere, and something about Dave made the essence of his being hurt for reasons he couldn't understand. The fleeting thought of wings distracted him, and he shook it off brightly. That was his secret.  
Nobody else knew. Nobody ever would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here we go!  
> The next chapter will basically be Jane's POV of this time period  
> here is a link to a little diagram of the kids' families.
> 
> http://i60.tinypic.com/w17ojn.png
> 
> also this is set in england and they do have school uniform just go on the assumation that it was a non uniform day


	7. Sunsets

Jane was up early, always early, and never late. The day ahead was going to be long and exciting and she couldn’t wait to get started! Of course, she was apprehensive. Who wouldn’t be? Starting a new school, in a new country… it was always intimidating. But she had her brother, his cousin, and even her ex-boyfriend would be there.

She’d forgotten about him.

She wondered briefly if he would be awkward with her, but shook it off- Jake was too naïve, too oblivious to consider holding a grudge against her. Good.

She flicked John’s lights on, her voice too happy for half six in the morning, waking her younger brother before she headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.

She practically skipped down the road, her short hair gleaming in the sunlight. John was talking to her about a dream, a weird dream that she had also had previously. She allayed John’s fears easily, but her own nerves were set on end. What if it meant something?

She waved farewell to John as they entered, and made her way down the hallway opposite.

Ah yes. Her day was about to get very interesting.

Coming from a seemingly-abandoned classroom, shouts. Teenage shouts.

Being her overly-concerned self, Jane headed straight for the classroom.

Three girls crowded around a figure at the back, jeering, laughing, Jane swore she saw a kick.   
“Please, stop.” The now-curled person mumbled softly, only just loud enough for Jane to hear.   
The blue-clad student strode forwards, pushing herself between the victim and the bullies. “Hey, now. What’s going on?”  
“Ain’t none of your business.” The tallest spat.   
“It’s my business if you’re attacking another student, my moral code implores me to step in.” Jane kept her voice level, the tremble in her fingers not finding its way to her throat. They were locked behind her back, where her protectee could see.   
“She’s just a hipster, what do you care?” Another of the three girls raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, as I previously mentioned, my moral code won’t allow me to let this continue. I suggest you scram.”  
“Or what?” Back to the tallest girl. She leaned over Jane, trying to intimidate her.   
“Or else I beat the living daylights out of you. I am very tired, very new, and not afraid to shed blood. I strongly suggest that you _amscray_ before things get _loodbay_.”   
“What.”  
“Fuck off, basically.” Jane turned to the student curled on the floor, the three girls slinked out of the door, muttering. She offered a hand gently, and the other student took it gratefully, springing up with gutso. “Hi!” he greeting came as she fixed her hair, poked at skin, wincing at bruises and straightening her dark pink skirt.  
“Are you okay?”  
“I’ll be a-okay. Thank you, by the way.”  
“You’re very welcome.” Jane started walking, the other student following her, “So, what’s your name?”  
“Roxy Lalonde, an’ you?” Jane noticed the clipped word, the New York accent, American style all-round.   
“Jane Crocker.” Jane held a hand out to shake, and Roxy looped their arms together. Great introduction.

Roxy and Jane walked calmly back to the foyer to meet John, only to be greeted with two groups of students and very beat-up younger brother. She strode over to him, taking him by the shoulders and inspecting his face. “What did you do?” her concern overrode her fury at the fact he had managed to get himself attacked before classes even started, “You have a cut.”  
“He does?” a blonde-haired girl in black and purple sidled over to John, wiping the offending wound.  
“Who are you?” Jane let her annoyance get the best of her, a slight frown gracing her face. The blonde turned to look at her, not breaking the steady sweep of the wipe.  
“Rose Lalonde. I’m Roxy’s younger sister.”  
“Oh.” Jane was taken aback, “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” Rose smiled slightly.  
“It’s alright.”

Roxy pulled Jane to her, resting her forehead on the dark-haired girl’s own to give them some privacy as she explained John’s state. Out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw Jake sidle over to John, and decided that, as he was safe, it was time to head to tutor. She informed her friends of this, and allowed Roxy to drag her off towards the stairs.

They arrived early, and Roxy pulled herself onto the table to sit and wait, swinging her legs slightly. Jane felt herself gulp unconsciously- no, calm down Crocker. Yes, Roxy is attractive, but have some self-control, girl!  
“Janey?” Roxy’s voice broke into her thoughts. She slid off the table, “You okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine!” Jane chirped as brightly as she dared, “Where do I sit?”  
“There’s a space next to me.” Roxy swept across the room and sat, Jane followed suite. As more students began to pile into the room, Roxy inched closer.  
Under the table, Jane felt Roxy offer a hand of comfort.  
Jane took it.

“I have frees ‘til break, then I’m in English.” Jane informed Roxy, who beamed at her.  
“I’m in Performing arts first, then free, then English. Which class?”  
“Ah- Mr Swift.”  
“Ah, shame.” Roxy appeared downcast, “I’m in Schofield’s class- she’s a bitch.” Roxy made a face, gave Jane a hug, and skipped off to lesson. Jane noticed how she latched herself onto Dirk’s arm and crushed the jealousy she felt burning in her throat.

“Hey.” A student greeted Jane at her table in the common room, “May I sit?”  
“Sure.”  Jane waved a hand at the seat.  
“I assume you’re new?”  
“Yes, how did you guess?” Jane looked up. Her conversation partner chuckled behind her hand, her blue-framed glasses slipping with the motion. She pushed them up with one hand, using the other to pull a folder out of her bag. “You have no work.”  
“Oh. Nice observation.”  
“Aranea Serket.” Aranea held a hand out over the table.  
“Jane Crocker.” Jane shook.  
“Nice to meet you, Jane. I can wait to do this homework, it’s due Friday. Do you need any advice?”  
“Hm, well, I could do with knowing where my English classroom is, and knowing where to go at break.”  
“I’ll see if I can get the okay to show you around.” Aranea stood and left the room briefly, returning with a thumbs-up. Jane hooked her fingers into the straps of her bag and hurried to the edge of the room to join her new friend.

“Okay, this is the English classroom you’ll want.” Aranea waved at the door, allowing Jane to memorise its position before continuing to the stairs at the back. “This way is usually clearer than the front stairs.”

“The refectory. You come through here to get food. That’s the kitchen,” Aranea led Jane through the spacious area, pointing, “And there’s where you sit. Or, you can go outside, most of the younger ones do.”  
“Ah, my brother is in the year below me, so I think I may join him outside.”  
“Oh, is he? My sister will be in his year then.” Aranea beamed at her. “Unfortunately, I have Business next, so I’m going to have to leave you. Do you need me to show you to the common room?”  
“I think I’ll be okay. Up the front stairs, left, right, and then left again?”  
“You’ve got it!” Aranea gave her a double thumbs up and walked with her to the stairs. “See you around, Jane!”  
“Bye Aranea!”

 

Roxy huffed as she plopped herself next to Jane. “I have. So. Much. Work.”  
“For Drama?” Jane sounded incredulous. Roxy pulled out her folder and offered Jane a look. “Ah, you’re… quite behind, aren’t you?”  
“Yeah, I missed a lot of school work, ‘cause I was ill. Withdrawl.” She said the words airily, but Jane noticed the heaviness behind them. “Withdrawl? Do you mind-?”  
“It’s okay.” Roxy cut her off, “I uh, had a real bad alcoholism problem since I was, like, 15, so… I kinda decided earlier this year that enough was enough, and cleaned myself up. I’m better now, though.”  
“I’m sorry.” Jane dropped her gaze.  
“What for? No-one died, Janey, I’m still fightin’!”  
“No, I mean, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you with that.”  
“Aww, you didn’t even know me. But hey, if I ever… y’know, you got full permission to slap me awake.” Roxy put an arm around her gently, and Jane leaned into her.   
“Do you need any help with your work? I have nothing to do.”  
“If ya don’t mind.” Roxy flicked through to a worksheet and unclipped it from the folder. Together, they began to slowly cut into Roxy’s workload, working almost straight through break and only stopping when the sound of young students filled the air.  
“Shit, we’re gonna be late.” Roxy gathered and filed her papers, standing. Jane followed her up to the second floor, and waved farewell as Roxy headed into class. Jane wandered up to her room, entered with a, “Sorry I’m late.” And her teacher waved her clear.  
Aranea waved idly from the back of the classroom, and Jane joined her, sitting in the spare seat to her left. A dark-haired fellow waved at her from the other side, and Aranea gave him a sideways dirty look. “Cronus Ampora.” She muttered to Jane, “Don’t let him try it on with you. He never gives up.”  
“Oh, okay. Thanks for the advice.”

“Roooooxy!” Jane heard her friend’s name drawn out, and a small girl barrelled into the blonde at high speed.  She was about to step in when she heard Roxy’s chuckle, “Hey Nepeta!”   
Nepeta hugged Roxy tightly, “I nefur get to see mew anymore.”   
“Yeah, sorry, I’ve been ill.” Roxy returned the hug before Nepeta dropped to the floor, the sleeves of her too-big olive green hoodie bundled in her fists. “Jane, this is Nepeta. Nepeta, Jane. Are you in Maths next?”  
“Yup!” Nepeta grinned brightly at Roxy.   
“Walk with us then.”   
“Hi Nepeta, nice to meet you.” Jane offered a hand, and was surprised to find Nepeta’s grip was almost painfully strong. “And, uh, how old are you?”  
“I’m in purr eleven.”  Nepeta grinned slyly, “But I get mistaken for youngpurr.”   
“Do you know John, then?”  
“Egbert? Yeah!” She bounced on her heels, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the slower sixth formers. “He’s in my IT class.”  
“Ah, that’s good. He’s an oblivious child, take care of him for me.” Jane smiled. Nepeta gave only a dark chuckle in return.  
This small cat child was weird.

Nepeta waved farewell to Roxy and Jane, and Roxy chuckled at Jane’s expression. “She’s cute as heck, sure, but she can still break your neck.”  
“What?”  
“Nepeta is dangerous. The last person to screw with her ended up getting stitches.”  
“Oh. Oh wow.”  
“Never got blamed for it either.”

Jane was officially scared.

 

Her dinner time came without more introductions or offences, and she was all-too happy to settle into the seat beside Roxy, John sitting opposite her a few seconds later.

Oh no.

The blond that was walking slowly towards their table was dripping wet, water was running down his face, dripping from his blonde hair. John had pulled the old ‘Soak a guy’ prank that had earned him so many enemies in past schools.

The blonde sat next to John and put an arm idly around his shoulders. John snickered at him, and only then did Jane notice that he, too, was soaked.

Heh. It looked like John had finally made a friend that could keep up with his lame pranks.

She eyed the blond as she leaned across the table, “How’s your day gone so far?”  
“Great!” John grinned at her. She smiled, this was a good sign.  
“That’s fantastic! Who’s the blond guy?”  
No response from John. She tilted her head in concern, “John?”  
John brightened visibly, making a noise of confusion, and Jane sighed in relief. “I said, who’s the blond guy?”  
“Dave Strider, he’s my new friend!” John sounded so proud of himself. Bless.

“I just need to go to the toilet,” Jane patted Roxy on the shoulder, “I’ll catch you up.”  
The imps were at it again, Jane groaned as she turned her back to the door, hoping nobody would spot the pink glow, and closed her eyes.

She opened them again to the pink world she knew as the spirit realm. “Little bastards.” She commented as she swatted at one of the many imps crawling across her wings. They could never leave the light blue atrocities alone, and she always ended up having to straighten them out at the end of the day. She smacked one of the imps, watching it dissolve into oil, and groaned harder. Thankfully, they were all low-level beings, and couldn’t do much damage, but it was still annoying. The death of their comrade sent most of the remaining imps fleeing from Jane’s wings, and she quickly switched back to the material plane.

“Sorry I’m late.”  Jane entered the class and plopped herself next to Roxy, who patted her back gently. Jane looked ill.

Their last lesson was in the common room, a free period, which they used to cut into some more of Roxy’s bountiful workload. Jane felt her phone buzz, and opened it to find John messaging her on Pesterchum.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 15:25 --

EB: jane, i'm walking home with dave and rose.

GG: Okay, I'll meet you at home.

GG: Have fun! :B

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 15:26 –

“Looks like John is heading home with your sister.” Jane commented to Roxy as she packed up.  
“And Dave, probably.”  
“Oh?”  
“They’re like, twins, or some shit. They’re nuts.”  
“So… they’re siblings, then?” They started down the stairs.  
“Well, not really. Dirk and I used to date for a bit, but then he realised he was gay and-” Roxy laughed, “Now he bangs Jake on a regular basis. Fuckin’ sucks. Ain’t many people for me to get my wicked frisk on with.”   
“Whoa. What? I’m going to need you to repeat that, a little slower.”  
“Which bit?”  
“All of it.”  
“That’s cool, we have all the time you need.”

 

“So, let’s… okay. You and Dirk were dating?” Jane asked, Roxy gave a noise of affirmation. “And then Dirk came out.”   
“Yup.”  
“And now he’s dating Jake?”  
“That’s an understatement.”  
“My ex-boyfriend is gay?”  
“Actually,” Roxy put a finger to the side of her lips as she thought, “He was pretty confident he liked women, and then Dirk appeared and… well, he’s hot.” She chuckled darkly, “I think he’s bi?”  
“Okay. Also, Dirk and Dave are the unofficially adopted brothers of you and Rose?”  
“Yep.”  
“Uh, okay then.”  
“So d’you think we’re neighbours?” Roxy changed the subject without much thought.  
“What would the chances of that be?” Jane laughed.

Her face dropped in shock as they entered their respective, neighbouring, and connected houses.

Nine ‘o’ clock hit, and Roxy began pestering Jane.

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 21:01 --

TG: janey r u awake?

TG: do u hvae the front rom

TG: *have *room

GG: Hello Roxy! I am indeed awake, and yes, I do. Why?

TG: shvoe ur head out the window a sec

TG: *shove

\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] ceased pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 21:03 --

 

Roxy’s last correction was missed as Jane wandered to the window, opened it, and leaned out. Roxy waved at her from the window beside her. “Hey Janey!”  
“Roxy, so nice to see you.”  
“Wanna hang?”  
“Rox, it’s gone nine.”  
“The sun hasn’t even set yet, c’mon Jane.” Roxy waved at her a little. Jane sighed,  
 “Alright. I’ll be over in a tick.”  
“No, wait.” Roxy grinned at her as she slid herself out of the window, balancing on the thin window ledge before smoothly dropping to the lintel above their doors. Jane, seeing what she was getting at, nodded. “Be right back.”  
As Jane disappeared into the house, Roxy remembered the bottle and glass on the box next to her window. She nimbly clambered up, balancing precariously on the thin edge, and grabbed her drink. Jane reappeared as Roxy settled. “Hold this.” Jane held the flask out, Roxy reached up to take it as Jane made her way out of the window, a lot less nimble than her blonde friend.  
After much faffing, both girls sat contentedly on the lintel, their legs swinging over the edge. Jane gave Roxy a sideways look as the blonde flicked the lid of a bottle open, and poured a glass of the green liquid. Jane sniffed, “Is that a martini?”  
“Appletini,” Roxy corrected, “And it’s a mocktail, don’t worry.”  
“Give.” Jane took the glass, and a sip. Once the was assured it indeed contained no alcohol, she handed it back. “See, I’m responsible.”  
“Sorry.”  
“N’aww, it’s a-okay, you’re just worried about me. That’s hella cute.”  
“Roxy!” Jane complained, hiding her flush behind a firm facepalm.  
“Heh, I’m only playin’.” Roxy slid closer to Jane, throwing an arm around her as she took a swig of her drink. Jane’s hands were wrapped firmly around her drink, seeping the warmth in. The sun began to set, illuminating them with the summer pinks and blues, sinking into the warmer regions.  
“I love the sunset.” Roxy commented offhandedly, her head, by this point, resting on Jane’s shoulder. The brunette gave a hum of agreement, the sound reverberating through her, and Roxy felt it more than heard it.

They sat on the lintel until the sun had gone down and the stars were out in full force, Roxy had even pointed out a few of her favourite constellations before Jane decided it was time to sleep.  
“Good night, Roxy.” From the window of her bedroom, she waved, and she could have sworn that the blonde haired girl had blown her a kiss before disappearing. Jane watched the magenta curtains close, and followed suite.

She climbed into bed, to sleep, and to dream of magenta eyes.


	8. Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and John are late.

A bright rap came at Jane’s window as she was getting dressed, and she didn’t need to check to know who it was. Half-clothed, shirt unbuttoned, she lifted the blind to find Roxy waving at her, seemingly unphased by the full view of her friend in her underwear. She opened the window, “What?”  
“Rude! I was wonderin’ if you’re walkin’ to school with me this morning.”  
“Yes, sure, are you even dressed?”  
“Of course!” Roxy pulled aside one half of her dressing gown to reveal herself fully uniformed. Jane smiled, and put a hand out of the window almost unconsciously. Roxy reached up towards her, but as though shocked, she pulled back. “I should get ready.”  
“Rox-”  
“Put some clothes on Jane.” But she gave a smile as she hoisted herself up, back into her window.

“Dave wants to walk with you.” Jane informed John as she slid his breakfast to him- a packet of crisps and an iced coffee.  
“Busy morning?” He quipped as he saw the sparse meal.  
“Very.” And she was out the door, her bottle full to the brim with sweet iced tea.  
Roxy greeted her with a hug, noting but not bringing up her friend's quiet demeanour. Instead, she looped her fingers through Jane’s as they walked.  
Jane pulled away.  
“Jane, talk to me.” Roxy’s normally airy tone was serious, she cast a sidelong glance at her friend as the school building loomed, but Jane remained stubbornly silent. Even she, herself, was unsure as to just why she felt so down. It was a new day, and everyone was happy, there was nothing to be upset over.  
“I’m sorry, Roxy.” She relinquished her silence eventually, as they entered the doors to the school. Roxy smiled at her, silent herself, but patted her gently on the back before they split.

“This shit is so uncomfortable.” John fiddled aggressively with his shirt collar. Dave smirked at him slightly, moving to fix the crooked shirt and slip John’s tie over his head. “I know, dude, welcome to England.” Which elicited a groan from John as he bonked his forehead down onto Dave’s arms.  
“I have to do this every day for the rest of this year.”  
“I know man.” Dave’s tone was sympathetic.  
“I can’t be bothered with uniforms, Dave. Or exams. Or England.”  
“I know.” The blonde patted his friend on the shoulder, “Now get moving, we’re already late.”  
John checked his watch, “Shit! You could have left without me.”  
“I never would.” Dave hooked his fingers through John’s bag and headed to the door, waiting for his friend.  
“Thanks Dave.”

Halfway down the road, Dave doubled over, letting out a hiss of agony. John stopped, turning back and kneeling next to his friend. “Dave?” He asked, reaching out to him. “Are you okay?”  
“Walk on, Egbert.” Dave drew himself to his knees, shaking violently, and looking incredibly ill, “I’ll go home.”  
“Fuck, no, dude I’m not leaving you.” John pulled his phone from his pocket as Dave coughed hard. “Hold on- Jane? Yeah, look, I’m not coming in. Yes. No, Dave. I have to go, bye.” There was vague beeping as John pocketed the phone and dipped down to where Dave now lay on his back, pushed his arms under his friend, and lifted. He was surprised to find Dave shockingly light. Dave himself appeared to have passed out.

After a little awkward fiddling in Dave’s pocket for his key, John let himself into the Strilonde house and immediately carried the unconscious blonde upstairs. His room was easily identifiable as the one with the door closed to- Rose and Roxy’s doors were opened, Dirks was locked. Dave’s door was open just a crack, through which John could see the red walls.  
He pushed through the door and was met immediately with a bombsite of clothes and other thrown things. A chair in the corner was piled with clothes, the doors to his wardrobe were thrown open, and across one wall ran a line with developed photos pegged to it. Dave’s bed was on the back wall, and John picked his way across the room to set his friend down, glad to find that Dave was beginning to wake.  
John looked around the room, curious, but unwilling to leave the obviously sick Strider alone. John noted that the blinds were closed and the curtains pulled, but the room remained reasonably bright from the cracks of summer sun peeking in at the edges. It wasn’t much brighter than the dark room with the red light on.  
He removed his friends shades and set them on Dave’s bedside table, then sat on the edge of the bed as he awaited Dave’s awakening.

“Roxy?” Jane poked her head through the door into the girls toilets. She received no reply, but knew that Roxy was probably in there, “John and Dave won’t be in today, Dave collapsed in the street and John’s looking after him.” And she left to go and find the other relatives of the duo.

The first she bumped into were Jake and Dirk, the former of which greeted her with a hug since they hadn’t actually talked since Jane had arrived in England. Jane patted him awkwardly and turned her head to Dirk over Jake’s shoulder, “Dave’s been taken home ill, he collapsed on the way to school.”  
Mild alarm registered on Dirk’s face, and Jake pulled away from Jane to look at him. Dirk made a few gestures with his hands, and Jake turned back to Jane, “Is he okay?”  
“Yeah, John’s taken him home.” More hand gestures.  
“He says thank you.”  
It took Jane an entire staircase to realise the hand gestures were sign language.

“John?” Dave mumbled, trying to sit up. John twisted to him, holding a hand out to help. Dave took it with mumbled thanks.  
“How do you feel man?”  
“Ill.”  
After Dave was sick a couple of times, he returned to his bed, shivering. John sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders, feeling his friend tremble and burn beneath his weight. “You need to get changed.”  
“I can’t.” Talking was taking a visible impact on the blonde, his eyes were shut and his entire body seemed to wilt before John’s eyes. John breathed a small sign, then shifted to slip Dave’s blazer off his shoulders. “Here, I’ll help.”  
Dave’s eyes opened just enough for him to stare at John as though he was his saviour, but John was too engrossed in unbuttoning Dave’s shirt to pay attention to the half-smile that the sick teenager managed to muster.  
“Pants now.” John offered an arm out to Dave, supporting his friend as he stood and removed the offending clothing. He collapsed back onto the bed the second he was free, and John picked his way over the floor to the wardrobe, only to find it empty. “Dave, where do you keep your sleepy clothes?”  
“I…” Dave laboured, “Don’t.”  
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you basically naked. Hold on, I’ll grab one of mine.” And John was out of the house, over the fence, and unlocking his door before Dave could say anything else.  
He returned a few minutes later, changed out of his uniform, and holding the biggest shirt he owned. “Do you feel any better?”  
“Cold.”  
“I know. Here, sit up.” And between them, they eased John’s shirt onto Dave, who promptly curled up in his bed and fell asleep. John pulled the covers up over him, and crossed the room to sit in front of Dave’s computer.  
Might as well pass the time.  
He pressed the button and, as the monitor flickered into life, headed downstairs to find some soup. He was met with instant noodles and other microwavable meals, so he headed back to his house to retrieve one of the fifty cans in his cupboard- and was faced immediately with his father. “Hey dad!” he greeted as he slipped past him, into the kitchen. “John. What are you doing home?”  
“Dave’s ill, I have to look after him.” Three cans should last them, he decided.  
“That’s not your responsibility, son. His parents-“  
“His dad isn’t around, his older sibling looks after him, and he’s in school. He’s my friend, dad.” He turned his gaze imploringly on his father, who shook his head and sighed. “You’re a noble boy, John.”  
“Thanks dad!” and away he went.

  
Jane dropped her head into her hands. “Why did I take business?”  
“Because you hate yourself?” An unfamiliar but not unfriendly voice suggested, and Jane looked up to find a bright smile directed at her. “That’s why I took it.”  
“Ugh, no.” Jane rolled her eyes, “I’m already fifty shades of done.”  
“Join the club.” The stranger held a hand out towards her, and Jane shook, “I’m Latula.”  
“Jane. Crocker.”  
“Nice to meet you Jane, this is Mituna.” Latula indicated the wild-haired individual sitting next to her, who leant back and tipped his head almost upside-down, making the hair move away from his eyes, and causing Jane to half-gasp at the sight.  
“Hi.”  
“Hello!”  
He gave her a wild grin and sat back up, his hair falling back over his eyes as he continued to write. Latula shook her head affectionately, smiling at Mituna. "New?" she directed at Jane, who nodded.  
"My brother and I have just moved from America." even as she said it, she frowned. Had they? She remembered living in the states, but everything was hazy, unreal.  
"Memory a bit hazy?" Latula asked brightly as she saw the expression of concentration on Jane's face, the latter nodded, "We all get that, it's a side effect of living in the country." Jane relaxed slightly, pleased to know that it wasn't just her. Latula gave her another bright grin, "It's been nice talking to you, Jane, but I should really get some work done."  
"Ditto" Jane smiled back.

John returned to Dave's room with a bowl of hot soup, covered and set on a heated plate that he'd dug out of a cupboard whilst looking for a bowl. Dave was still asleep, curled, and John took a moment to observe his friend's condition. A film of fevered sweat sheened on Dave's forehead, but when John tried to shift the covers, Dave held them in a death grip. A vague memory struck in John's head about a similar situation, only John had been the one unconscious.  
But that was impossible. They'd only met a day ago.  
John tried to wave it off, but it stuck at the front of his mind.  
He turned from Dave, and the burning sensation, one that he hadn't realised had existed, subsided. He instead made his way to Dave's computer and wriggled the mouse, only to find the computer locked and passcoded. He cursed under his breath. He sure hoped Dave kept his password written down.  
After rifling through some papers that consisted of homework sheets, doodles, and photographs, he found a small wad of papers in a thin black binder. Upon further investigation, he found them to be half-written songs and raps. The first one was titled 'Do Demons Dream'  
John entered the title into the password box.  
And he was in.

Dave's feverish dreams shone with the pink gleam of the spirit realm. The shape that materialised in front of him had wide wings, spread and raised- grey with flecks of Orange. Dave grimaced at him, "Bro."  
"Hey, li'l man."  
"You know I collapse when you do this." anger was barely veiled in Dave's voice, "John had to carry me home."  
"Sorry Dave, but shit's important." Bro shrugged, "I need to tell ya that you ain't alone, okay?"  
"I know, I got Dirk to care for me."  
"No, I mean, you ain't the only angel."  
"What?" Dave's eyes widened.  
"There's trouble brewin', kid, an' you're gonna have to fight for the things you love. It's sad-" Bro seemed to cut himself off.  
"What?" Dave prompted, but bro only shook his head.  
"You don't remember, Dave, I can't tell you until you do."  
"Bro, you mystic motherfucker, tell me."  
"Sorry kid. Gotta go."  
"Bro, no, don't-"

Dave sat bolt upright in bed, one hand out as though reaching for someone. John turned and stumbled across the room to his friend, "Dave?"  
"John?" Dave stood shakily, stepping straight into a sort of half-hug, half support gesture that John offered. John made soft, reassuring noises as he inched Dave back towards his bed and turned, flumping backwards and dragging Dave down with him. "How do you feel?"  
"Tired." Dave muttered, turning away from John's shoulder, where he'd fell, and he looked up at John.  
The brunette felt a shock run through him at the sight of Dave's eyes- bright blood red, unnatural even for John's friends. He said nothing on it, and simply smiled, edging away until he could sit up. "Hungry?"  
"Yeah, actually." Dave sat up, looking a great deal less ill. It was then that he noticed his computer, on and open to a page on his browser, Hephaestus. "Dude how did you get my password?" John swore he flushed slightly.  
"Soup," he pointed, "And I found your binder with your music stuff in it. I tried the title of the first song." He shrugged, "Sorry, you were totally out."  
Dave ripped the film off of the bowl and tucked in aggressively, "It's okay dude, just don't tell anyone else what you saw in there. Shit's meant to be for my eyes only."  
"Dave, I-"  
"It's okay, John. I owe you that, at least." He smirked, "Shouldn't you be in school?"  
"Shouldn't you definitely not be alone?" John glared at his friend. Dave relented,  
"Alright, but once I've eaten this, I'm goin' to sleep."  
"I could do with a nap myself." John found himself suddenly and incredibly tired after running around for Dave. The blond in question patted his bed, "Room enough for both of us if y' won't go home."  
"Dave." John said seriously, giving him a level look, "I'm not gay."  
Dave spluttered on his soup, "Did I say anythin' about stickin' it in you, or getting our mack on? No, Egbert, it's a bed. Take a nap."  
"Seems pretty gay to me."  
"You're a fuckin' idiot." Dave shook his head and set the bowl back down on the table. "I'm goin' to sleep. Which side do you prefer?"  
After a long pause, John replied, "Wall."  
They tucked themselves up, back-to-back, and fell slowly to sleep.

"Are you okay, Dirk? You seem incredibly distracted." Jake sat next to his boyfriend, reaching out to touch him gently. Dirk looked at him for a moment, sighed, and signed at him, 'I'm just worried about Dave. I'll be okay, don't worry.'  
"But I do worry, old chum, it's why I'm here." He offered one of his cakes, which Dirk took, signing his thanks.  
"You're welcome. Dirk?" Dirk tilted his head in acknowledgement, "I love you."  
Dirk smiled slightly, and kissed him on the cheek.

Rose sat opposite Dirk and Jake, "Have you heard about Dave?"  
Dirk nodded. Rose sighed, "Do you think it has anything to do with Bro?"  
'Probably.'  
"Great. I didn't realise he knew."  
'I didn't tell him."  
"Tell him what?" Jake interjected. Dirk's gaze dropped and he turned away. Rose looked at them both, "You didn't tell Jake either?"  
Dirk shook his head.  
"Oh. Jake, a few days back, we got a letter. From Mom. About Bro." Jake nodded in acknowledgement, "And she told us he's dead."  
Dirk shook silently, and Jake, struck speechless by the news, put an arm around him gently.

"Eridan!" Jade called after the student, tripping in her haste to stand. He cast a look over his shoulder and sighed, stopping to let her catch up. She smiled brightly at him as they started walking again, and she fell into step beside him. "Where're you going?"  
"Writing club." He kept his answer short.  
"Oh! Is Rose going?"  
"No. She's busy today."  
"Oh. I'll join you then!"  
"W-what, no 'Can I join you Eridan? Is that okay Eridan?' just inwitin' yourself?"  
"Um... Yeah, pretty much! You act mean, but I know that under all that gold bling and hair dye, you're really just a lonely nerd!" Jade chuckled. Eridan rolled his eyes, "I hate you."  
"I know." Jade smiled, "I know."

Karkat padded slowly after Jade and Eridan, keeping his distance and unwilling to be seen. Jade, however, was aware that the shorter teen was following them, and continuously glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was okay. As they reached the classroom where the club was held, he caught up, caught Jade by the arm and stood on his tiptoes to whisper to her- Did she know Bro was dead?  
Jade shook her head, both in disbelief and to acknowledge that she hadn't known. Eridan urged them both into the room.

Jane trotted briefly after Roxy, calling her name. The blonde turned to her friend, "Hi Jane."  
"Hey!" Jane chirruped, falling in to walk beside her. "What have you got now?"  
"Frees 'til home." Roxy answered, not needing to reference her timetable. Jane smiled brightly, "Me too!"  
"Okay then, will you walk with me?"  
"Sure, but I have some Business homework to do."  
"I can help, if you like." Roxy looked over to her friend. Jane shook her head, "You have enough to do, Roxy, I got this."  
They sat, side-by-side, working in silence.

"Jane." Aranea touched her shoulder lightly about five minutes later, both Roxy and Jane looked up, Roxy frowning. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"  
"Not at all, Aranea." Jane moved her bag and let the other student sit. Roxy gave a small groan, and Jane shot her a curious look.  
"Aranea is the biggest bitch." Roxy muttered under her breath.  
"She is? She's been nothing but helpful to me."  
"Trust me, Jane."  
"I do."

Dave woke up first, feeling John behind him in deep slumber. He got shakily out of bed, and stood. With a deep breath, he opened his eyes to a pink realm, but finding no trace of Bro- this, he found weird- Bro left traces when he visited via the spirit realm.  
It hadn't really looked like the spirit realm, either.  
Dave bit idly at his lip, contemplating the alternative. His siblings would have told him, though, if that was the case, he was sure of it.  
He turned to inspect the area behind him, around his bed, and froze. Before him, folded and furled, deep blue wings. Angel wings.  
So shocked was he that he blinked twice and the pink world gave way to the normal one. Dave rushed to his bed and shook John awake. "John. John!"  
It suddenly occurred to him that no- John was not like him. John's wings were straight. Feathered.  
Dave's own wings were crooked. Where feathers had once covered the bone structure, scales now layered over one another. The few feathers that remained were bent and out of place.  
John sat bolt upright, pulling Dave out of his momentary haze. "Dave, what's wrong?"  
"I-" Dave stumbled over his words, "I just, uh." He took a deep breath, "Sorry, man, I must've had a bad dream and scared myself or somethin'." He lied easily.  
"Oh- okay. Are you okay?" John fussed, turning to face the blond.  
"Yeah, sorry I woke you up."  
"It's fine, don't worry." John patted Dave on the shoulder, gently, and the blond smiled slightly at the gesture.  
"Wanna play Mariokart?"  
"If you're ready to get your ass kicked, hell yeah."

  
"Writing club was actually pretty fun!" Jade chirped as she exited the school with Karkat and Eridan. Karkat smiled at her exhaustedly, Eridan gave no sign of recognition other than the twitch of his hand that Jade knew meant he was listening. As they collectively cleared the school gates, Jade turned to each of them and, in turn, hugged them and kissed them on the cheek with fleeting timidity. Eridan flushed, and Karkat put his hand up to his cheek. Jade grinned at them, waved, and bounded off to catch up to Jake.

"Hello Jade, what's up?" Jake greeted as she arrived at his side.  
"Nothing, what's with you?"  
"Did you know Bro Strider is dead? I didn't."  
"Karkat told me at lunch."  
"How on earth did he know? Dave couldn't have told him- Dave himself didn't know."  
Jade stopped in her tracks. "Dave didn't know?"  
"No, they didn't tell him for fear he'd react as he did."  
Before the sentence was out, Jade had taken off running down the road, back the way she came, toward the Strilonde house.  
Jake followed without hesitation.

"Dirk Strider!" Jade barked as she approached, "Roxy Lalonde, Rose- how dare you not tell Dave!? How dare you!?" and she started screaming right there in the middle of the road, whilst Jane stared, open-mouthed at her furious cousin. Jade shouted, and shouted, until Jake set a hand on her shoulder, very gently, and her mouth snapped closed. Her jaw was still set, her eyes still burned with anger, but she was quiet.  
The Strilondes were struck speechless, not even Rose had any idea what to say until Dirk slowly raised his fist to his chest and moved it in a circle, 'Sorry.'  
"I know you are, but why didn't you tell him?"  
'Afraid he'd get sick'  
"Congratulations, he did that anyhow."  
'Sorry.' Dirk repeated, and Roxy patted him on the back.  
"Well you guys are here now, d'you wanna come round?"  
"Sure." Jake answered before Jade could. "I've not seen John in a while, discounting yesterday, and I'm sure he'll still be with Dave,"  
"I expect so." Rose commented, starting back towards her house again.

"John?" Roxy called as she entered the house, Jane and company in tow. There was no reply, and Jane crept upstairs, into Dave's room, and smiled. Her brother lay, sleeping, across Dave's legs, and the Strider was also asleep. John's face was glued to a Mariokart wheel, and bright music played from the T.V.  
They had fallen asleep playing Mariokart.


	9. Continue game?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of time skipping

Jane sprayed the two boys awake when night began to fall, and as John and Dave dried off, her father offered Jake and Jade a ride home. Dirk and Jake kissed goodbye at the door, and Jane noticed that Jade let her grip on Rose’s hand linger, a spark of worry behind her otherwise-happy expression. She made a note to keep an eye on Rose- John had already pointed out that he was good friends with the blonde, and Jane was inclined to defend any friend of her younger brother. There had never been many.

Roxy tapped Jane on the shoulder as Dave came traipsing downstairs with John in tow, just in time to allow Jade a hug of parting from her cousin. “D’you want a drink?” Roxy questioned her friend, and Jane knew what she was asking. “Sure.”  
So they took to the mantle once more, sitting in the twilight and sipping twin hot chocolates. John had already returned home, and opened Jane’s window at her request (She had seen the bucket, you’re not that clever John!)  
“I was real worried about you this morning Jane, it ain’t like you to be so quiet.”  
“Are you saying I talk too much?” Jane jabbed in a joking fashion. Roxy laughed, and shook her head.  
“Nah, I mean you were quiet, you weren’t talking an’ y’ weren’t comunicatin’ in general. Was it… was it to do with me pullin’ away outside this morning?”  
“It might have been, I don’t know. It was more unconscious, Roxy. I’m sorry.”  
“N’aw, don’ worry about it. When I went to touch y’all it was like I’d been shocked, y’know? Just a sudden kinda pain in my head, like I wasn’t supposed to remember somethin’ yet.”  
There was a pause, “That’s… weird, Rox. But I understand.”  
“Y’do?”  
“Yeah.”  
They sat in silence until their mugs had been drained, and said goodnight.  
Roxy hugged Jane hard, “I love you.  
“I know.” Jane smirked as she pulled herself into her window. Roxy stared, open mouthed. A few minutes later,

  
\-- tipsyGnostalgic [TG] began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 23:17 --

TG: omg jane did u rlly just quote star wars w/ me??

TG: ur a fuckin idiot jane ur actully the best

TG: *actually

GG: Yes. Yes I did. :B

GG: Are you really surprised?

TG: im ashames to say no i am not :3

GG: Hoohoo, whatever you say, Roxy. I’ll speak to you in the morning, it’s late.

TG: night janey

\-- gutsyGumshoe [GG] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] at 23:26 --

And for the second time in as many nights, Jane curled up to sleep with her new best friend on her mind.

 

The days, and indeed weeks, that followed seemed to simultaneously drag in, and fly by. Before anybody could stop and think, the final exams of the year were looming over them.

Their group of friends- somewhere around thirty-two- had taken to revision sessions together. Generally though, the whole group didn’t turn up. Many of the members hated eachother (Damara had tried to strangle Rufioh as he left one evening) and the organisers of the event just did not trust them to be in the room. So three times a week, three groups would meet up. Always, they were a mixture of sixth form and GCSE students. There was always drinks, food, and tissue for the few that inevitably broke down crying.

John was one of these students in a session where Dave was not present. Rose picked him up- quite literally- carried him to the kitchen, and poured him a glass of iced lemonade whilst Vriska, Aranea, Jane and Dirk stared after them in concern. John sniffled as he drank. “Better?” Rose asked gently, a far throw from her usual demeanour. John bubbled in response.  
Rose patted him on the arm, “It’s okay, John, we’re all stressed.”  
“You look fine.”  
“You’d think.” Rose allowed herself to huff as she slid down the cupboards to sit next to him. It took John a while to realise- holy shit, Rose was actually crying. Fuck.  
He stared blankly for a second, completely baffled as to what to do, and then he set he glass down to hug her. “This isn’t just exams, is it?”  
“No.”  
“What is it, Rose?” John missed the hint not to talk any more, but Rose didn’t reply. She hugged back and cried silently, with John joining her a few seconds later.

By the time they were actually taking their exams, each and every student was taking in two or three bottles of water a day to supplement the ocean of tears they collectively shed. John walked to his first exam- maths- hand-in-hand with Jade and Rose. He thought it was almost like a coming-of-age ritual. Like something he had to do to be complete.

Dave trod along behind them, watching John hug close to the two girls. Beside him, Karkat put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, fuckhead. You’re going to pass.”  
“I ain’t worried about that, man.” Dave huffed, dropping his chin to his chest.  
“I’m here for you.” Karkat said to him, almost too-faint, as though it scared him to say it.  
“Me too, man. Me too.”

 

Their last exam was languages. Karkat and Vriska were slinging various insults at one another in Spanish, whilst Tavros and Feferi conversed fluently. The former was shaking with nerves, but Feferi reassured him calmly.  
Vriska laughed at him.

John and Sollux had all-but given up hope on the exam. They had instead taken to laughing at stupid French phrases that had no context- things like “Omlette du fromage” and “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?” were popular and reoccurring favourites.  
Coming out of their exams was like “bein’ released from the dark infinities of hell into the glorious sunshine of earth. Like Persephone escapin’ the fuckin’ underworld and bringin’ spring back to the planet.” As Dave artfully put it to Rose and John.

 

They were done with school, but quite a few of them were staying on at the sixth form there. The others would be heading to various colleges around- Nepeta and Equius were going to one specifically for nature and animals, and Terezi would be taking off to study law- something she was quite excited about. Dave was nevertheless disappointed to hear the news, as she delivered it the day they left the exam. He had hugged her for a good while longer than any of them had expected, and even Rose and John had shared looks of concern. But, when he’d pulled back, he was wearing a bright grin. This shocked them- Dave rarely smirked, let alone smiled, but for Terezi… for Terezi, anything. He loved her a lot, albeit more platonically that the months preceding the event (Their relationship hadn’t gone well) and was willing to step the line for her- even if it meant smiling.  
She grinned back and told him she wouldn’t lose contact.  
He told her she better not.

 

Prom arrived.

John and Dave, dressed in almost-matching suits, stepped down to the path where Dadbert offered the car to them. Dave called shotgun.  
They’d be meeting their dates at the prom.

“Hey John!” Vriska greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, and Dave wiped the blue mark off.  
“Called it.”  
“I know dude.” John forked over a ten pound note. “Hey Vriska! Who’s your date?”  
“Date?” Vriska snorted “I’m not interested in anyone here. Chumps.”  
“Who are you interested in, then?” he bounced his eyebrows at her and she snickered,  
“I have to keep some secrets from you.”  
“Whatever you say.” John rolled his eyes.  
“Dude, here’re our dates.” Dave wrapped his fingers around John’s wrist.  
John cleared his throat and Dave released. “Sorry.”  
“Anyhow… Rose, you look… great!” John stepped forward to greet his date, impressed that she’d gone with something brighter than her usual macabre purple and black. In fact, she’d done a complete 180 and was dressed in some kind of orange outfit.  
“Why, thank you, John. Kanaya helped me to design and create it.” Rose indicated her friend, who was stood talking to Karkat a short distance away.  
“Well it’s great!” and they entered the venue, leaving Dave to greet the slightly slower Jade.

“Jade, holy shit.”  
“Sophisticated tongue you got there, Dave.” Jade smiled, “But thank you!”  
“Jesus.”  
“You okay?”  
“I feel underdressed.” Dave actually let out a sort of awkward half-laugh as Jade straightened her galaxy dress. She fixed her glasses, and held a hand out. “Shall we?”  
“M’lady.” Dave bowed, taking it.  
“Say that again and I will pull your spine out of your ass, Dave.” Jade said seriously as she linked her arm with his and dragged him inside.

 

Their first dance was some kind of awkward half-step-on-his/her-toes in Jade and John’s case respectively. Luckily, both Dave and Rose found it amusing, and Dave ended up lifting Jade clear off the dance floor and carrying her back to her shared table.  
Nepeta bounded up to them in a flurry of excitement. “Hey Dave!” She greeted, offering a fist bump. After the ritual was complete, Dave offered Nepeta a dance, “Just don’t stand on me. Or kill me.”  
“I’d like that a lot, Dave, thank mew!” and they took to the floor as Rose and John returned.  
“Hey Jade, do you want a drink?” John offered as Rose sat down.  
“Lemonade, please!”  
“Alright, Rose?”  
“Eh, any kind of juice.” The blonde rolled her eyes, “You know me.”  
“I do.” And he scurried off to get their drinks.  
“I am beginning to regret coming with Dave! I love him to pieces but there’s only so much annoying albino kid one girl can take!”  
“I know how you feel.” Rose smiled, “But I doubt his plan was ever to stay with you for the entire time. He’s with Nepeta at the moment.”  
“So I saw! I’m glad- this is the last time they’ll see each other for a while.” Jade stood, “Talking of that… Karkat!” She left to find him.  
“So much for being done with annoying albino kids.” Vriska commented to Rose as she put three glasses on the table. “John sent me to give you these.”  
“Thanks.” Rose took the glass of what was evidently orange juice and sipped. Refreshing.  
“No problem. So, you seen Kanaya?”  
“Not since I came in, actually.”  
“You should find her.” Vriska turned.  
“Why?”  
“Just trust me Lalonde, I don’t know what to do with all this great luck so I’m giving some to you.”  
“Thank you?” it was a question, not a statement, but Vriska swept away anyhow.

Kanaya traced Vriska as she moved across the room to sit with Tavros and Gamzee, and made to move towards her before Rose waved at her.  
“Kanaya!”  
“Rose?”  
“Do you want to dance?”  
“Do You Not Need Someone To Watch Your Table?”  
“I have Eridan on it.”  
The grouchy looking student waved sullenly from the next table over. He sat alone.  
“Then Sure, I Would Love To.”

Prom, and summer, both passed without event. The few times that a group of them met up, they went home with smiles on their faces and a fair few bruises from hugs.

Then came the dreaded return to school.

They were many members down this year.

 

“Wake up, John.” Jane and Roxy stood in his room, the lights on, but John had pulled the cover over his head.  
“I don’t wanna.”  
“Come on, Johnny! You gotta get up.”  
“Don’t wanna.”  
“Dave is waiting for you.”  
After a long pause, he finally dragged himself out of bed. “Can you send him up?”  
“Sure.” They left, and Dave entered a few minutes later, already fully dressed, to find John halfway through tugging on a pair of jeans.  
“Dude, didn’t want to see.”  
“You’ve seen me in less.” John made a face, and Dave snorted,  
“True. What do you need?”  
“Friendly reassurance and your opinion.”  
“I can do zat.”  
“You’re a nerd, Dave.”  
“Shut up, Egbert.”

 

After much bickering, and a group breakfast (To which Rose and Dirk were also invited) they all set out for school.  
“I’m kinda nervous about my first day in sixth form.” John confessed to Rose and Dave as they trod along.  
“As am I, John, but we have plenty of friends in this year group. Kanaya knows almost everything from Porrim, and she’s taking me under her wing.”  
“Yeah I wonder why.” Dave muttered, and John snickered. Rose stared at him piercingly,  
“What?”  
“Nothin’ Rose don’t worry.” He smirked at her. “Tell her we’d be glad of her help, okay?”  
“I will.”

It had taken him months, but now… now, Dave figured, was the perfect time to ask John. He would forget by the end of the day if he had to.  
“John.” He said to his friend quietly. John gave a hum of recognition. “I know you’re an angel.”  
John stopped dead, and Dave with him. Rose stopped a few steps ahead, but Dave waved her and the others on. “We’ll catch you up.”

“How-?” John hissed, quiet even though Rose and company were continuing.  
“Well, you remember the day I collapsed?”  
“Vividly.” John grimaced.  
“When I said I had a nightmare, I uh… I lied. I’d just been using the vision and-“  
“The vision? As in, spirit realm?”  
“That’s the one. I saw your wings.”  
John was struck speechless.  
“They’re amazing.”  
Finally, it sunk in, and with only a sob, John flung himself at Dave, wrapping his arms hard around his best friend’s neck.  
“Whoa, John, are you alright?” Dave wrapped his arms around his friend as John sobbed freely into Dave’s shoulder, his reply barely audible,  
“I’m not alone.”

 

Roxy dragged Jane almost immediately into the classroom where they’d first met.  
“D’you remember this, Janey?”  
“Yeah, I do.” Jane wandered further in, and Roxy followed, letting the door close behind her.  
“I’m really glad they beat me up that day, ‘cause I don’t think I’d’ve met you if they di’n’t.” Roxy smiled at Jane. Jane smiled back.  
“You know, I’ve grown a lot over the time I’ve had you as my friend.” She commented, Roxy laced their fingers together.  
“Me too, Janey, me too.” And she brushed a kiss to her friends cheek before perking up. “Ready to leave?”  
Jane found her hand released, and it moved to cover her now-flushed face.  
“Coming.”

 

“Porrim!” Rose chased after the older student, “Can you tell me what this means?” and she indicated a square labelled ‘SIS’ on her timetable. Porrim smiled at her,  
“Of course. It’s a special period, kind of like a free, except you’re forced to stay in a particular room to focus.”  
“That sounds like it sucks.” Rose pulled a face.  
“It does. You share yours with Kanaya.”  
“Oh, that’s good. Kanaya is a good friend.”  
“Is that all?” Porrim eyed Rose curiously, and the younger girl stared back. Porrim shrugged, “Just don’t hurt her. She’s still my sister.”  
“I… what? Okay?”  
Porrim left without elaborating, and Rose wandered to her SIS room completely baffled.

Kanaya greeted het at the door with almost overcompensating energy. “Hello Rose, How Are You Today?” was coupled with a bright, too-cheery expression and a hug.  
“I’m… fine? Are you okay, Kanaya?”  
“I Am Absolutely Fine Rose, Do Not Worry.” Kanaya replied. Rose hummed in concern.  
“I’m here if you need me.”  
“That Is What I Am Afraid Of.”

 

 

“Rose bein’ dense is the most painful thing ever.” Dave commented to John at break as Rose fussed around Kanaya, trying to get her to explain, “She’s usually so perceptive, read me like a damn open book. Like some retellin’ of ‘The Little Mermaid’ bold print, comic sans, font size three hundred projected on the sky above her.”  
“Dave. You’re rambling.” John nudged him, “But yeah. She’s not usually this…”  
“Slow?”  
“Yeah.”  
“It’s odd, bro.” Dave bit into his sandwich.  
“Odd like you wouldn’t believe.” John finished, smirking. Dave high-fived him.

 

Dirk basically carried Jake home that evening. A silent grimace, they trod alone along the now-dim path to Jake’s residence.  
There was no talking, Jake was almost asleep, with an arm slung over Dirk’s shoulder. Dirk inhaled, and exhaled, hard.  
“Jake, you’re an idiot.” He breathed. Jake let out a sort of breathy half-laugh at the sound of Dirk’s voice.  
“I know. But you love me.”  
Dirk declined to talk again, simply nodding against his arm to let him know he agreed.  
Jake mumbled various affectionate phrases- some of which Dirk swore were in German- until he finally fell asleep and Dirk had to carry him the rest of the way. As he entered, Jade waved from the living room, and Dirk went straight upstairs to Jake’s room.  
He didn’t leave, choosing instead to lie down on Jake’s bed with him and text Dave- Lock the door, don’t think I’ll be home tonight.

 

“Dirk’s getting laid again.” Dave called downstairs to Roxy and Jane; Rose was next door with Rose, studying.  
“That’s cool.” Roxy called back, and Dave heard Jane’s faint snickering.  
  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 21:33 –

TG: john are you busy

TG: john im lonely

TG: john

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist at 21:41 --

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 21:39 –

TG: jade are you there your cousin wont talk to me

TG: jade

GG: hey dave!

GG: if you mean jake, hes asleep :P

GG: and if you mean john, hes with rose isnt he??

TG: yeah shes over there with him now studying

GG: ‘studying’ ;P

TG: what do you mean

GG: are you so dense that you cant see he has a crush on her!?!?

TG: yes i am

TG: jade i dont think so

GG: whatever you say mister! im going to sleep!! goodnight <3

TG: night jade

\-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 21:56 --

Dave sighed, turned his computer off with a flourish, and changed for bed. Jade was, maybe, correct. Rose and John had been spending a lot of time together.

He was kind of jealous- John was HIS best friend. And maybe he sort of wondered why he wasn’t invited too.

 _‘Whatever.’_ He disregarded it as he climbed into bed. He’d deal with that another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna write a christmas chapter but its too close real time and too far away story time D:::  
> I'll start a side-thing that I'll put in the same series, keep an eye out for that!
> 
> EDIT: The christmas story is up!


	10. Discovery

John cracked his eyes open, yawning, to the sound of his alarm.  
Seeing as it was a Saturday, the sound was muffled by his pillow. He wanted to avoid waking Jane or his dad.  
With as much care as he could, he got up and dressed, throwing on one of his favourite shirts, and then made his way downstairs to get something to eat, carefully clutching his camera and tripod.  
After he’d eaten, he checked the time- 8:30, early for a Saturday, but perfect.   
He met Dave and Rose at the gate, giving Dave a half-hug, and Rose a kiss on the cheek. He took Rose’s hand as they headed towards their photoshoot scene, the nearby pond.  
Dave, as usual, traipsed a few steps behind the two, inspecting them with Jade’s words from the previous Monday weighing heavily on his mind.  
He overlooked the evidence.  
John had taken Rose to prom. During exam revision, and since then, they had spent a lot of time together, often away from the other members of their friend group. Dave would catch them laughing together, Rose with her hand covering her mouth, and John clutching his chest. Almost every time, they would be holding hands.  
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and loaded pesternote

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 08:48 –  
TG: jade as much as i hate to admit it i think you might be right  
GG: right about what, dave? :O  
TG: about john having a crush on rose  
TG: im with em now  
TG: its weird theyre holding hands and giggling together  
TG: all romantic as shit  
TG: like romeo and juliet without the brutal murder of the cousins  
TG: you and jake are still alive right  
GG: dave. youre rambling.   
GG: jake and i are fine, dont worry!  
GG: and youve only just realised this?? daaave youre so slow!!  
GG: i have to go help jake with the pumpkins now, but keep me updated on their date!!! bye!!  
TG: jade its not a date  
\-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 09:03 –

Dave sighed and slid his phone back into his pocket, just in time, as they arrived at their destination.   
“What shots do you need, John?” he questioned his friend, drawing closer to the others.   
“Ah, well, I need some scenery shots, and then some that I can edit the model out of. I’m going to do a sort of angel-based project.”  
Dave shot him a warning look. John nodded back at him.  
John looked over to Rose, who wore an identical expression, and supressed a smirk.   
“Will you guys help?”  
“That’s what we’re here for.” Dave managed through clenched teeth. He was, understandably, furious. An Angel-based project. That roughly translated to ‘Dave, get your wings out.’ As far as Dave saw.  
John didn’t tell either of them that he was working on dreamscapes.

“Okay, I have my scenery.” John called an hour or so later, and they regrouped. Dave, too, had been taking pictures at the same time. They compared their images, and complimented each-other’s composition and angles, before Rose cleared her throat and they were both brought back to the reality of their situation- the shoot.  
Dave went first, still focusing on surreal suspension. John watched in awe as Rose closer her eyes, and then hovered off of the ground. Her expression was pained, strained, and Dave called “Got it.” after only a few seconds.   
Rose dropped to her feet again, panting.  
“Holy shit.” John managed. “How did you do that?”  
“Harnessing the power of the dark lord Satan.” Rose replied, a bite of sarcasm in her tone. John couldn’t tell if she was being serious, or kidding around. “Do you need any more, Dave?”  
“Can you manage one over the pond?”  
“Seriously?” Rose raised an eyebrow, “It’s not enough for me to float in mid-air, you want me to do it over the pond?”   
“I asked if you could do it.” Dave stared back at her, flatly.   
“The answer is yes.” Rose said, “But you owe me more energy drink than you can hold.”  
“Deal.”  
John’s breath caught in his throat as Rose waded into the shallows of the pond, ankle-deep, with her skirt hoisted so it wouldn’t get wet. She winced as each stone dug into her bare feet, but soldiered on until the water threatened to wet the hem of her skirt. “Ready?”  
“Ready.” Dave positioned and focused his camera, and John did the same, just for the sheer amazement of capturing the phenomenon.  
Rose focused, and began to rise out of the water. All the while, Dave and John snapped photos.   
She rose up to about a foot above the gently rippling water, looking more, and more strained with each passing second.   
Finally, Dave called out to her, “Got it!”  
Rose didn’t move.  
“Rose, I got the photos!”  
Suddenly, there was a burst of colour from Rose. She let out a half-screech, half-scream of frustration as wings unfurled from her back and beat heavily, propelling her up a good three yards from the water, which rushed from the wind that the wings created. John grinned. Not how he’d planned it, but to the same effect.  
He looked to Dave, who seemed almost awestruck, and reached out, towards his friend. Dave took his hand almost unconsciously, and they simultaneously focused on bringing their wings into the material plane.

John led Dave by the hand into the sky, high enough to fly, low enough to be covered by the trees surrounding them.   
“John, I am going to kill you.” Rose gritted her teeth.   
“You knew?” Dave looked at his friend, shocked and offended.  
“Yeah, I knew about Rose, and I knew about you. You just didn’t know about eachother.”  
“You never told me you were an Angel too.” Dave shot at Rose accusingly, and Rose smiled slightly.   
“You never told me, either.” She pointed out. Dave was almost taken aback.  
“Oh, yeah.”  
“Well, now you know.” John smiled at his friends.   
“When did you find out about Rose?” Dave shot the question at him.  
“It was after you told me.” John assured him. “Wednesday, in fact. It was like a miracle.”  
“’Miracle.’” Rose repeated, rolling her eyes.  
“Two friends in a week, I was so alone before.” John said forcefully, but not unkindly.   
They all landed, exhausted- it was tough as dicks to materialise their wings- and embraced.  
Rose broke away from them on the way home, as she was going to visit Kanaya.  
John had to jog to keep up with Dave as they headed home, until the latter stopped suddenly and John almost bumped into him. “Dave?”  
“John, do you want to bone my sister?” Dave got straight to the point.  
John was frozen for a second, staring at Dave in horror. Then, he snorted, hard. “No!” he managed, “I do not want to have sex with Rose. Hell no!”  
“Oh.” Dave shrunk back into himself, “You don’t have a crush on her?”  
“Well,” John managed to control his laughter, “Sorta. But there’s a lot you don’t know about Rose.”  
“Wait, you do have a crush on her, or you don’t?”  
“I do, kind of. But no way, I don’t want to do her.” John vibrated with laughter again.   
“D’you want me to set you guys up?”  
“God, Dave, no! It’d never take off, let alone work.” John hid a grin, “I know things about Rose you don’t know.”  
“Of course.” Dave rolled his eyes, and John continued his chuckling as they set off walking again. “Does Rose know?”  
“You never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot.” John rolled his eyes at his friend, “Besides, it’s no big deal.”  
“Sure. Whatever.” Dave drew the words out with some semblance of a chuckle.

“I wonder if any of our other friends are Angels.” John said quietly to Dave as they approached their houses. Through the windows, John could see Jane and Roxy. He wondered briefly if his sister could be the same as Rose. “Should we ask them?”  
“I’d say leave it, bro.” Dave shook his head, “It seems like it’s somethin’ fate should tell us, y’know?”  
“Yeah, I suppose.” 

The weeks rolled by, and by, and before anyone could consider the space of time, it was Halloween. They were collecting in four groups of eight, to meet up later. All outfits were to be co-ordinated to prevent doubles. All groups had a leader so it wouldn’t be a clusterfuck of chatter and babble, some of which in poor Japanese.  
Feferi, Porrim, Roxy and Vriska were entrusted with the title of leader.   
They met in the town as dusk fell, wandering about and complimenting each other’s costumes, discussing which house they’d gotten ready at, all the little details.   
And then they set about terrorising the town.  
Most of them actually aimed to help, offering whatever sweets they could from their deep bags to any trick-or-treaters they passed. Others scared unassuming adults as they crossed streets.  
At the end of the night, they regrouped, and headed back to Feferi and Meenah’s house for the party.

That was where things started to go downhill.

Damara was the first to flip, understandably. Meenah had been taunting her endlessly since the beginning of the night, and just after the clock struck ten, she’d had enough, and started to beat the shit out of her. Caught off guard, Meenah went down, and it took three people to pull Damara off. One, Vriska, to punch back. Two, Aranea, to shield Meenah with her own body. And three, Rufioh, to physically pull her away.   
“C’mon, doll.” He encouraged gently as her flailing subsided. He placed his arm around her and turned to spot Horuss in the crowd, signalling that he was leaving. Damara was half in tears.  
“I’ll take her home, don’t worry about it.” He informed Aranea, who was holding her younger sister back.   
“See that she gets there safely.” Aranea inclined her head, and let them leave before she released Vriska and helped Meenah up. The latter was sporting a bloody nose and busted lip, but seemed rather in awe. “Didn’t know Megido had it in her.” She commented as Aranea dabbed at her lip.  
“You shouldn’t have taunted her like that, Meenah.”  
“Clam down, Aranea, it’s no big seal.” Meenah rolled her eyes.

The next strike came from Mituna, lashing out at Cronus. It was less physical, and more verbal, as he began to spew insults like an overheating pan of water, they bubbled up and out of him in an almost-incomprehensible rush. Cronus looked around, quite shocked, until Kankri sidled in to talk back at Mituna. They talked over one another for a good five minutes before Latula appeared and shoved Kankri, just hard enough to shut him up, and soothed Mituna. “What’d you say to him, Cronus? He’s hella upset.” She stroked his hair gently, and from his place against her chest, they heard him chuckle the word, “Boobs.”  
“Vwhoa, I didn’t say anythin’ chief.” Cronus held his hands up, “He just vwent off on me.”  
“Cronus, I really think you should leave.” Kankri said softly from Cronus’ side upon seeing Latula’s expression.  
“Vwhat, no. I’m havwing fun.”  
“Cronus.” Kankri warned, putting a hand on the small of his back, “Out.” And he pushed until Cronus gave in, walking towards the door with Kankri behind him.  
They stopped along the way to inform Karkat they were leaving

Everything seemed set to go smoothly from there, as Mituna and Latula left with Terezi not long after Cronus. But, as is the law with great things, more and more was set up to go wrong.

“Janey!” Roxy stumbled towards her friend, “Jaaaaney!”  
“Roxy?” Jane turned, panicked, from her brother to her friend. Roxy giggled as she collapsed against her. “Hey Janey! I just thought I should tell ya, that ah… oh shiiiit.” Roxy pouted. “I fotgot. Forgot.” She corrected herself and righted her glass. “Heh. Whoopsie.”  
“Roxy, what’s in your glass?” Jane’s heart was leaden, already knowing the answer.   
“Oh it’s just a litwle, just a little.”  
“Roxy, give me the glass.” Jane, using one arm to hold Roxy to her, reached for the glass with the other. Roxy frowned at her.   
“That’s no funs, Jane!” she held the glass out of Jane’s reach. Jane could swear she heard her own heart break. The room’s noises seemed muffled, despite the fact that there was chatter all around her, and music was thudding through the house.  
“It’s not meant to be fun, Rox!” Jane snapped, having to grab her friend with both arms. “John, c’mere. Grab that glass.”  
John did as he was bidden, and Roxy let out a wail. “Gimme it back!”  
“Don’t.” Jane commanded, trying not to cry.  
John poured the glass out.  
“Dave, can you take care of John for me?” Jane directed over her shoulder, her grip on Roxy tightening slightly in desperation.  
“Yeah, no problem.” Dave replied, and Jane sighed as she shifted Roxy to the closest sofa.   
She set her friend down for only a brief time, and then picked her up again, princess style. “I’m taking Roxy home.” She said to Dirk as she passed.  
Dirk laid a few fingers on her shoulder to stop her, and inspected Roxy. By this time, she had her arms wrapped around Jane’s neck and was crying gently on her shoulder. He touched his ‘sister’s’ arm, gently, and pressed his fingers to his lips, drawing his hand down and away from his mouth. Jane didn’t need a translation to know that meant ‘Thank you.’

“I fucked up, Janey.”   
“Yeah. Yeah, you did.” Jane’s arms were starting to ache with the weight of her friend. Roxy sobbed gently into Jane’s neck, and Jane quashed whatever emotion was stirring there.  
“I’m sorry.”  
There was a pause in which Jane didn’t speak.  
“It’s okay, Roxy. Relapse is normal.”  
“But I shouldn’t have…”  
“Rox, you could’ve been so much worse. Here, get down a moment.” Roxy stood.  
“Jane…” Roxy sniffed. “You gotta be so disappointed in me.”  
“Roxy, oh God.” Jane almost chuckled, enveloping Roxy in a tight hug. “No. I’m not ashamed, or disappointed. I’m worried.”   
Roxy clung to her friend for dear life.  
“I won’t remember any of this tomorrow, will I?” Roxy said in a small voice, almost a whisper.   
“I doubt you’ll recall the details.” Jane stroked her friend’s hair.   
“Perfect.”   
Under the dim light of the street lamp, Roxy leaned in and kissed Jane.

Back at the party, Dirk finally managed to track down his younger brother.   
‘Did you see Roxy?’ Dirk signed.   
“Yeah.” Dave shouted over the music, “Jane’s looking after her.”  
‘I know.’ Dirk answered. ‘Are you okay?’  
“I’m fine, just gotta keep an eye on John.”  
‘Look after him. We owe Jane big time.’  
“I will.” Dave smiled slightly at his brother, and Dirk smiled back, before they split.

“Who wants to play Never Have I Ever?” Vriska’s voice drowned out the music, and Meenah turned it down. A few hands went up, and they gathered in a circle with a tumbler of alcohol each.  
“Vriska’ll be starting.” Meenah’s voice drowned out the chatter of the circle. Vriska held a hand up.  
“Never have I ever…” She considered her statement, “Got a piercing.”  
Meenah and Porrim drank immediately, and Sollux followed a few moments later, albeit grudgingly. Aradia looked to him with some semblance of shock, and Sollux pulled a face.  
“I got my ear pierthed a few yearth ago, but it wath thtupid, tho it closed up.”  
Meenah was next. “Never have I ever had a crush on a Peixes.” And she smirked around the circle.  
Vriska, Dave, Sollux and Eridan drank. Rose raised an eye at her brother, who shrugged. “Feferi was close with us for a while.”  
“That is true. Vriska?”  
“I refuse to answer.” Vriska replied with a half-smirk. Feferi, next to Meenah, blushed.  
They all missed Aranea, sat on the counter away from the game, as she took a deep drink from her own glass.

“Never have I ever wanted to fuck anyone here.” Dave’s turn came, “Actually…” and he drank as correction.  
Meenah tipped the last of her alcohol down her throat, and Kanaya mimicked her action. Porrim piped up, “Does it count if you actually did fuck them?” and raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes.” Dave confirmed, and she drank.   
Eridan took a sip.  
The game finished at around one AM, when Meenah decided she wanted to send them all home.  
Unfortunately, as was the way with the Ampora’s, Eridan began to stir up trouble.   
He picked a fight with Sollux, which turned quickly from a shouting match to a physical brawl. The duo were locked in their fight until Eridan caught Sollux under the chin with a lucky punch, and the latter stumbled backwards, smashing his head off of a wall.   
There was some screaming, in horror and anger, and Feferi launched towards her ex-boyfriend. Before she could land a single hit, Eridan had lashed her down with a strong sweep of his arm, straight into her chest. She hit the floor, choking, and Meenah was at her side. Before the older Peixes could react aggressively, Kanaya was attacking Eridan. She got a few blows in before Eridan latched his hands onto her shoulders and drew his knee into her stomach.   
It was Rose who took the youngest Ampora down, with an easy strike to his back; he fell in a shuddering mess. She kicked him once for good measure, and then nodded at Jade and Jake, who carried him to the door and threw him outside.  
Meenah and Vriska picked Feferi up off the floor as Aradia tended to Sollux. He’d smashed the back of his head, leaving a dent in the wall, and a bit of blood.  
She thought it was probably a good idea to call an ambulance, so that was what John did.  
Sollux came round before the ambulance arrived, blinking awake. Aradia was at his side, shushing him. “Don’t move.”  
“Whoa, when did everything change?” he said dazedly.   
“What do you mean?” Aradia tilted her head. Sollux frowned and shifted a little further up the wall.  
“The colourth. Wathn’t that gold?” he indicated the kitchen countertop, which was indeed gold, Meenah’s stylistic choice. Aradia raised her eyebrows.  
“I think you might be colourblind!”  
“What? But that’th thtupid. I wathn’t colourblind before.”  
“You got hit on the head. It happens.” Aradia shrugged. “The ambulance will be here soon, we’ve already called Mituna and Psii.”  
“Oh man, Thii is gonna kill me.” Sollux tipped his head back into the wall, and winced. “Ow.”  
“Don’t worry, Sollux.” Meenah called, “They pulverised Ampora, and Cro’ll probably mash him when he finds out. I’ll give him a call.”  
She flipped open her phone and did as she said.  
“Cro? Your brother’s a fuckin’ little dickwart…”

“That was the most eventful night ever.” John half-grinned at Rose and Dave, who nodded in unison.   
“It’s a long way back, via the roads.” Rose said almost tentatively. “D’you think we should…?”  
“Fly?” Dave asked. Rose nodded. “I don’t know, Rose.”  
“It’s too late for us to be spotted.” John pointed out, and Dave relented.   
“Fine.”  
They stood together, in a line, hand-in-hand. After focusing, they brought their wings into the physical plane, and took to the sky.

The journey home was short, from there. As long as they stayed close to one another, they felt reasonably confident. They landed outside their houses, hoping with everything they had that nobody had seen them land.   
Rose kissed John’s cheek over the fence as they re-entered their respective houses.  
Jane wasn’t in her room. In fact, Jane was no-where to be found in the Egbert-Crocker household.  
Rose did, however, find her curled on Roxy’s bed, asleep, with Roxy pulled tight to her.  
Rose cracked a smile at that.

 

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 01:24 –  
TT: John, I’m assuming that by now, you’ve discovered that Jane is not present in your house.  
TT: Don’t worry. She’s here. She must have stayed with Roxy.  
EB: that’s great, thanks rose! i was starting to get worried hehe.  
TT: My pleasure. They’re asleep, so I don’t think she will be home until the morning.  
TT: Okay?  
EB: okay, thanks for telling me.  
EB: night rose!  
TT: Goodnight John.  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 01:33 --

John clambered clumsily into bed and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	11. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some aftermath and 'revelations' from the previous chapter!

Dirk smiled at Roxy as she and Jane stumbled down the stairs the following morning, wandering into the kitchen with bleary eyes, and nursing hangovers. Roxy had one hand over her eyes, and the other stuck firmly to Jane. Evidently, the latter's hangover was not as severe.   


"Drink." Jane commanded the blonde quietly, pushing a glass of cola into her empty hand. Roxy let out a mumble and did as she was bidden, and then once more with a glass of water.   
"Feel any better?"   
"Bit." Roxy didn't remove her hand from her eyes.   
Jane made them both cereal, and Roxy ate with one hand over her eyes.   
Dirk chuckled silently to himself, almost wishing he could speak to shout a good morning to his hungover sister. Rose entered the room as Dirk composed himself, closely followed by Dave, both rubbing their shoulders.   
'Dude!' Dirk's eyes widened in shock and anger as Dave turned to close the door. Rose, having seen the gesture, turned to repeat it, and the word fell from her lips half-formed. Dave turned, "What?"   
'Tattoos!' Dirk's frowned.   
"What?" Dave repeated, confused.   
Rose snagged her phone from the fireplace, turned her brother around, and took a picture of the red lines on his shoulder blades- in the shape of wings.   
The tattoos, one on each shoulder, were only about as big as Rose's hand, but weren't scabbed over. They were healed, as though they'd been there for weeks.   
Rose showed Dave the pictures, and his gaze met hers, alarmed.   
Rose turned her back to her brother, allowing him to gently pull back the fabric of her  pyjamas . He nodded as she turned back- she had them too, mauve lines forming hand-sized wings on her back.   
Dirk was speechless, hands limp at his sides, just. Staring.   
John Egbert chose that moment to come into the house, stumbling into the living room calling for Dave and Rose. Dirk shook his head and wandered past the blue-eyed teen, trudging upstairs with disbelief written on his face.   
"D-Dave, Rose, I woke up this mor... morning with-" he doubled over, panting, and Rose led him to the sofa to sit down. One sibling planted themselves on either side of him, "Tattoos?" Dave asked. John nodded.   
"Us too." Rose confirmed, gesturing to Dave. The shirtless Strider turned to show the red lines.    
"Mine are blue."   
"Mine are purple." Rose nodded slightly. "They're obviously connected to our status as Angels."   
  
Jane re-entered the main room, guiding Roxy. "Good morning, John." she whispered cheerily, eliciting a groan from Roxy. Jane gave a sympathetic look, and waved as she took the hungover blonde upstairs.   
Rose stared at her sister's back until she disappeared.

  


Roxy collapsed into her bed, still groaning, and Jane closed the light out. "Thanks, Janey." Roxy mumbled through a mouthful of pillow.   
"Don't worry about it." Jane smiled with her reply, and crawled onto the bed with her friend. Roxy lifted her hand from her eyes to look at her, and Jane patted her arm gently.    
Roxy curled into Jane's offered hug, and they laid together with the sound of their own breath for company, both trying to remember what the hell happened last night.

  


"Sollux?" Aradia's voice reached the teen, and he turned to her, reaching unconsciously. She took his hand and stood beside him, expression unreadable. The overwhelming emotion of the night before had worn off, and her infinitely positive  demeanour  had given way to concern and guilt.   
"AA?"   
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." Aradia hung her head, verging on tears.   
"I'm old enough to be  rethponthible  for mythelf, AA, you're not meant to protect me." Sollux offered her a smile, "Bethideth, my  thpirit vithion ith  fine."   
Aradia kissed his forehead, "You're a goofball, Sollux."   
He chuckled, "I know."

They chattered together quietly until Karkat came in, Eridan and Jade in tow. Aradia started at Eridan's appearance, but Jade waved her down. "It's okay, we got him."   
"If you're sure, Jade." Aradia smiled gently, warily. Jade nodded back, and Karkat drew up to Sollux's bedside with concern written in his face.   
Eridan sat down across from the bed, sporting a black eye, burst lip, and an arm in a sling.    
"Hey, fucknuts." Karkat greeted, making Sollux chuckle.   
"Hey KK."   
"How are you?"   
"Thore." Sollux groaned, letting his eyes slide shut. "And colourblind."   
"Seriously?"   
"Yeah,  turnth  out hitting your head can theriousthly fuck you over."   
Karkat turned to leer at Eridan, who spoke up, "If it's any consolation, Cro kicked me in the face w-when I  arriwed  home."   
"He... kicked you in the face?" Aradia frowned.   
"In the face." Eridan confirmed with a raise of his eyebrows; Eridan's equivalent of a smirk. Jade smiled at him, her fingers looped gently with Aradia's. "You deserved it."   
"I know-w I did. For what it's w-worth, Sol, I'm sorry."   
Dead silence hit the room, each pair of eyes on him until Karkat spoke, "Did you just  apologise ?"   
"Uh, yeah, isn't that w-what 'Sorry' means? Don't make me say it again."   
"I'll take what I can get." Sollux smirked, "I'm tired; I'll thee you later, KK."   
"Alright." Karkat took the hint and he, Eridan, and Jade left, Jade's comment of "In the face?" cut short as the door slid closed.   
Aradia hovered, not sure whether she should leave, too. Sollux struggled into a vaguely upright position and held a hand out to her, which she took, gratefully.   
"Feel like thome thpirit watching?"   
"Sure."   
In unison, they closed their eyes.

  


Dirk sat in his room, head in his hands, pacing every few minutes. He was agitated, extremely agitated, and his fingers again rubbed his shoulders. He grabbed his phone, flicked through his Pesterchum contacts, flicked off. Nobody knew, and he couldn't handle this one alone.   
This left him with only one choice.   
He turned his phone over and over in his hands, until he finally managed to message Jake.   


\-- timaeusTestified [TT] began pestering golgothasTerror [GT] at 9:35 --

TT: Jake, I'm coming over now.

  


He tugged his clothes on as he waited for Jake's 'ping' of reply.

  


GT: immediately? what's the issue, chum?

TT: I'll explain when I arrive, I need your advice.

GT:  roger  that, captain,  i'll  see you soon!

TT: <3

\-- timaeusTestified [TT] ceased pestering golgothasTerror  [GT] at 9:42 --

  


He knocked gently on Roxy's door, receiving a groan of reply, and opened the door to inform his sister that he was leaving. She dropped her head back to the pillow, giving a thumbs up, and he left.

  


He arrived at the Harley-English household around twenty minutes later, unaware that his pace had been something of a jog for the last mile and a half, at least until he touched the gate and felt his breaths heaving in his chest. He was almost wheezing.   
He knocked on the door and was greeted in seconds with a half-dressed Jake wearing shorts and an expression of concern. "Hello old chum-" he managed before Dirk had flung himself around him, arms around his neck, legs around his waist, and his face nestled close to Jake's ear.    
"Are you okay, Dirk? What's wrong?"   
Dirk inclined his head slightly, and Jake, one arm clamped around his boyfriend, sighed as he pushed the door closed and carried Dirk to his room.   


"What do you need, ol' chap?"   
Dirk  drew  himself together and signed,   
'If I tell you, you've got to promise to trust that I'm telling you the truth.'   
"What do you mean, 'if', Dirk, we both know that you'd tell me regardless of whether I agreed. For the record, though, I promise to believe you."   
'Thank you.' Dirk paused to kiss him, almost desperately. 'To cut a long story short, I'm an-'   
He stopped. If he formed this sign- and it was already halfway there- Jake could quite reasonably outcast him. And, Jake could reveal to the others that Dirk was even more abnormal than he already felt. Could he tell Jake the truth?   
The pause drew out, longer, and longer, until Jake raised his hands instead. Crossed at the wrist, flapping. 'Angel.'   
Dirk stared at the movement, and slowly, he nodded.

"What the hell are we going to do about this?" John almost glared. Rose patted his arm gently, soothingly.   
"The only options open to you are to tell your Dad now, or try to hide it from him."   
"I can't hide shit from Dad, he's like, omniscient or something along those lines." John pushed his head into his hands, and Rose's jaw clicked as it set.    
"Please allow me to try something, John." she stated, and even as John accepted, she was turning him. "Shirt."   
"Rose, whoa," Dave feigned disgust, "Get some privacy before you bone my bro."   
Rose rolled her eyes, "David Elizabeth Strider, you're too funny."   
John's shirt bundled in his lap as he snorted, "Elizabeth?"   
"Bro has a sick sense of  humour ." Dave grimaced. Rose shook her head, chuckling,    
"Okay, I need you to stay still for this, John."

The atmosphere in the room  levelled  seriously, as Rose closed her eyes, and pressed her hands together. After a few moments of silence, she flicked her eyes open, drawing her fingers apart with glimmering strings of gold hanging between them, something between a solid and a liquid. Still concentrating, she laid the strings across John's back, over the tattoos. John's breath hitched at the unusual sensation, but remained as still as he could as Rose fixed the stringy gold to cover the wings.    
"Now he has a gold splat on his back," Dave pointed out, "That's not less inconspicuous."   
"Dave. Shh." Rose strained, focusing hard on the mess of gold. Slowly, the gold faded, giving way to the brown of John's skin.   
Rose kept one hand hovering, the other went to her throat, clasping the small, skull pendant of her necklace. It glowed briefly, and then Rose dropped her hands as the  glamour  disappeared. John's wings were still there.   
"It didn't work." Dave exhaled heavily. Rose smiled at him, unclasping her necklace, removing it.    
"Yes it did."   
She put the chain around John's neck, and the moment the clasp clicked shut, the wings on his back disappeared.

Dave gaped, and John craned his head to look over his shoulder. Rose collapsed backwards into the arm of the sofa, "The sustaining force for the  glamour  is in the pendant." Rose told him, "Take it off and the  glamour  goes, too."   
"Thanks Rose!"   
"I don't know how long this will last, so if it starts to wear off, tell me as soon as you can."   
"Will do." John slid his shirt back on and turned to hug Rose. She patted him gently on the back before letting him go, the younger teen springing to his feet with  vigour , bidding them both farewell as he returned home.

Dirk found himself pulled against Jake, almost straddling him, as Jake laughed, or sobbed, or both, into his shoulder. A moment of shock, and Dirk kissed the top of Jake's head before resting his chin there, hugging tightly. He felt Jake shake with whatever laughing/crying he was doing, and his grip on Dirk tightened. Dirk made out two words from his next spew of words, "Angel too."   
Dirk  drew  away slightly, just enough to allow him to sign 'you too?'   
"Me too, my dear, me too." he blinked, eyes glowing pinķ momentarily, then blinked back to emerald green.   
Dirk mimicked his actions, the split second of spirit vision showing him Jake's wings- emerald green and bunched behind him- and then just Jake.   
Dirk pressed his forehead to Jake's, both silent for a few long minutes, before Dirk whispered, "I love you."   
"I love you too." Jake smiled, tilting his head up to kiss him.   
Not even a second later, the door to Jake's room was shoved open, "Jake, didn't you hear me  ca -oh." Jade froze in the doorway as Dirk- still straddling Jake- whipped his head around to her. "I'll-" before the word was out of her mouth, the door was closed, muffling Karkat and Eridan's questions. (Both variations of 'What the fuck?')   


Dirk's gaze stuck to the door for a few seconds until he felt Jake shake against him and whipped around, only to find Jake brimming with laughter and biting his lip to hold it in. Dirk kissed his forehead and, silently, began to chuckle.   
A few moments later, Jake's laugh could be heard ricocheting through the house, making Jade bury her face in her hands, Karkat pinch the bridge of his nose, and Eridan put his head on the table, all in some culmination of embarrassment and exasperation.    
"Tell your piece of shit cousin to put a sock on the door, or knock before you fucking open it and subject us to Strider's sexual activities." Karkat spat in a flurry of words that Jade only just understood.   
"Calm  dow-wn  Kar, at least w-we didn't find them packin' it in the ass." Eridan reflected, laying a hand over Karkat's sympathetically. Karkat glared at him until he removed it.   
Jade watched the exchange with a smile inching its way onto her face. Her friends were such nerds sometimes... or most times. Eridan sighed, rolling his eyes at Karkat and offering the hand to Jade across the table instead. Jade took it, and stared at Karkat brightly until he added a hand to the mix. Jade grinned, "Thank you!"   
"I fucking hate you." Karkat glared, and Eridan kicked him under the table.   
"Ow, fuck, didn't you learn your lesson when brother sleazebag kicked you in your bloody nose?"   
"No." Eridan kicked again.   
"Shh, boys, calm!" Jade soothed, "You're both dumbasses."   
She chuckled as a barrage of counter-insults and protests rained down on her, her best friends burning with  indignance .

  


Roxy emerged from her hovel just after mid-day; Dave and Rose had vacated the house an hour beforehand, and she and Jane were home alone. Jane sat up as Roxy rummaged through her drawers, searching. "Rox?"   
"Got 'em!" Roxy withdrew a pair of sunglasses from the midst of the mess and put them on, blinking to adjust to the change.   
"Ready to abandon the dark and venture into the searing light to find sustenance?"   
"Yes,  capain . Captain." Roxy saluted.   
Jane opened the door, smiling over her shoulder at Roxy, who hissed at the change of light. "It burns!" she protested, dissolving into chuckles.   
Jane gave a snort of laughter, and offered a hand, which Roxy took before they rushed downstairs   
Jane inched into the kitchen, stifling giggles, and Roxy tentatively followed.    
"What to eat, commodore?" Jane flashed the question at her friend.    
"Chocolate, please, captain." Roxy grinned. Her grin only grew as Jane discovered that she was too short to reach the shelf of goodies. 

Eventually, Roxy calmed herself down enough to make her way over to Jane.    
And pick her up.    
Jane gave a squeak  of protest at first, but quickly  realised  what was happening. She allowed Roxy to lift her just high enough to scrabble onto the countertop, and then-    
"Got them!" She grinned in triumph, holding up the chocolate.     
She slid off the unit and immediately into Roxy, who'd been waiting to lift her down.    
"Fuckin' teamwork, Janey!" Roxy beamed, kissing her friend's forehead and taking the chocolate.    
Jane flushed brightly, allowing the chocolate to be taken from her hands.

They escaped into the main room, and Jane tilted the blinds to reduce the amount of sunlight as Roxy plopped down onto the rug in the middle of the floor. She tore open a packet of chocolate and began to eat as Jane returned to her.   
"So I was thinking," Roxy said between mouthfuls, "I might dye my hair?"   
"What  colour ?" Jane ate a chocolate coin.   
"Like. Bubblegum pink." Roxy mused, turning to grin, "Will you help me?"   
"Sure." Jane grinned back. And they sat in silence for a few minutes more, eating their chocolate.

"So why did you decide to tell me this now, babe?"   
Dirk pulled a face at Jake's pet name, but slid aside to sign to him. He explained his younger siblings' tattoos, and the association he'd made, and then turned to let Jake investigate Dirk's shoulders and the orange lines that were displayed there.   
"I don't have these." Jake commented, and Dirk felt his heart stumble slightly.    
'You don't?'    
"No. But I'm positive that they'll have a trigger, mate, don't worry about it."   
Dirk exhaled  his panic , and Jake took his hand gently, rubbed his thumb over it with equal care.   
"Do you think they are angels, then?"   
"I don't know." Jake was shocked to hear Dirk talking, but guessed that he needed to, "If they are, I don't want to ask them. It's something they should tell me about themselves, it seems an important revelation to make."   
"Like you and me?"   
"Yes, exactly." Dirk leaned in to kiss him, "Thank you, Jake."   
"For what, chum?"   
"For..." Dirk was at a loss for words, "Existing."   
Jake smiled at him for a moment, before a flash took over his vision and all he could see was the image of Dirk, wings visible and spread, sailing down street with an aggressive posture. Another flash, and he saw  grey  skin, wide eyes, and a bleeding wound in a torso. Dirk's sword was stained blue.

Jake gasped as the world reformed around him, and pushed back as though burned.   
'Jake?' Dirk's hands flew up to form the sign, and Jake stared from his place on the floor, recovering, heaving his breaths.    
"What the fuck was that?"   
Dirk's expression darkened to concern. 'Jake?' he repeated.   
Jake stared at Dirk for a few moments longer, then  scrabbled  up as he saw tears pooling in Dirk's eyes. He fought past the dark flashbacks on the edge of his mind and locked his arms around Dirk. "Sorry, ol' chap! Had a bit of a funny turn, must've been watching too many movies."   
Dirk gave a choked sob and pressed his face to Jake's chest, his fists balled in the thin material of the shirt his boyfriend had thrown on before Dirk's confession.

Kanaya  groaned and turned slowly, carefully, and picked up her ringing phone.   
"Yes?"   
" Kanaya ." Rose's voice cut straight into  Kanaya's  head, and she lay back into her pillows.   
"Rose?"   
"Are you okay?" Rose asked, careful, quiet.

"I hurt."  Kanaya  replied, and Rose could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Are you up to any visitors?"

"I can't move, Rose.  Porrim  will have to answer the door."

"Okay good, because I'm outside."

Kanaya  heard the firm knock at the door as the call cut off, and gave a short laugh that she immediately regretted.

Rose made her way into  Kanaya's  room with as much care and grace as she dared, and smiled as she saw  Kanaya's  own lips turned up at the edges. She perched on the edge of the bed, and  Kanaya , with many pained exclamations, shuffled towards the wall to allow Rose to slide down next to her.

"Have you spoken to  Eridan ?"

"No."  Kanaya's  reply was sharp and firm.

"You'll enjoy this then." Rose flicked up her  Pesternote  window with Jade, and handed it to  Kanaya  to read through.

"In the face?"  Kanaya  pre-empted Rose's next line from the log, and continued reading as Rose laughed. "Yes, further conversation with  Karkat  revealed to me that Cronus was trying to impress  Meenah . All he managed to achieve, though, was  Meenah  being impressed with herself."

"Fucking Amazing."  Kanaya  gaped slightly, "I will have to ask  Porrim  to thank him."

Rose gave a bright bark of laughter.

" Eridan  is scared to talk to you."

"I wonder why?"  Kanaya's  voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Apparently, he apologised to  Sollux  in hospital this morning."

" Eridan  apologised? Blasphemy!"

"That was my first reaction, too." Rose let loose a grin, and  Kanaya  smiled back.    
"So we are on the same page."

"We're practically the same book." Rose nodded slightly.   
An awkward silence descended in the room. Rose was the one to break it.    
"Would you be up to seeing him?"   
"I Don't Know."  Kanaya  breathed gently, her middle beginning to twinge with pain again. "Not Today."   
"Alright." Rose placed her phone on the bedside table and nestled further into  Kanaya's  bed covers. "Am I okay to stay a while?"   
"Knock Yourself Out."

Dirk cried himself calm in Jake's embrace, but the emerald-eyed angel couldn't shake the vision of his boyfriend attacking the grey figure. 

She reminded him of  Aranea .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear i didnt mean for it to take this long. ive been writing it for like 3 months.


End file.
